Here to Stay
by darkprincess888
Summary: To survive, she needed to be strong and he needed to be weak. For others, she learned to be reliable and he learned to be dependent. In midst of pain and healing, of failing and growing, they found their hearts connected for ever. Karmanami/Karumana! [ Main story after prologue 'Thursday' ]
1. Chapter 1 Karma's day at high school

**Hello everyone! Here is the first chapter of my Multi chapter Karmanami/karumana story! This is the main content which follows my previously posted one-shot called 'Thursday' (which can be considered as a prologue of this series). I'm really excited to present this to you!**

 **Apologies for any grammatical and spelling errors in advance!**

 **I hope you guys enjoy reading it!**

 _ **Disclaimer**_ **–** _ **I do not own Assassination classroom and its lovely characters.**_

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 _ **Summary - To survive, she needed to be strong and he needed to be weak. For others, she learned to be reliable and he learned to be dependent. In midst of pain and healing, of failing and growing, they found their hearts connected for ever.**_

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 **Chapter – 1**

 **Karma's day at high school**

The sound of the birds chirping was being carried in the room, soft wind blowing, acting as a medium and the golden rays of the sun filtered through the curtains on the window. Large masses of books, some on mathematics, some on science, some on English and Japanese along with a few videogames and mangas were strewn across the table. The room, on first sight, could very well be deduced to belong to a normal teenager boy. But the occupant of the room was everything but normal.

How normal could a boy be, especially after being a member of a former class of trained assassins being taught by a super human teacher capable of travelling at a speed of Mach twenty?

The figure on the bed sheeted with a blanket slowly stirred. A head covered with red hair popped out from underneath blanket, eyes of liquid gold blinking to get the reminiscent sleep off his senses.

Karma woke up with a smile on his face.

That smile was present at most times when he had met any member o day before. Mainly it was Manami and Nagisa…sometimes, Kayano too. The warmth in his chest was something he cherished, something that only appeared after seeing his former classmates. Class E was special to him, he knows that it always will be. A rush of thoughts went through his mind, all wrapped up in a thin sheet of fondness.

That Class had so much good in it. So much good. The lessons they had learned there were precious, unforgettable. They had learned so many things that they cannot even properly count – courage, honesty, empathy, acceptance, humility and so much more.

There were no losses, no defeats, no punishment, no humiliation, only lessons. Lessons to become brave, lessons to become cunning, lessons to overcome weaknesses, lessons to help others, lessons to hone their skills, lessons to become humble, lessons to have faith _, lessons to become a_ _better person than what they were before_.

Every member there had a significance, had a place with one another. Everyone in class E knew that this is where they belonged with their talents, with their weaknesses, with their desires and ambitions, together as an extraordinary unit capable of facing any dangers together and all of them knew that class E was complete in its own.

As he swung both of his legs toward the edge, his eyes came to rest upon two framed photos standing on his nightstand. One was of class E with Karasuma-sensei as their head teacher because Koro-sensei was a top secret threat and a way too eccentric to be present on the official school photo.

He remembered not wanting to go to the main campus just to get his face on a mere class photo, deciding that resting in the shade of a tree was a much better idea, but, only to find himself flying through the air at a speed of Mach twenty, and the next moment he was there along with his classmates posing for the photo. After threatening the yellow teacher of theirs that he was going to steal his wallet, the man had conceded and replied that why he had disturbed Karma from his afternoon nap.

" _I'll need something to remember you guys by when you grow up."_

" _Oh? Sensei. It's useless, you're not going to live much anyway."_

He had taunted casually, only to realise, _now_ , that the man was actually trying to help _them_ make good memories, knowing that he was going to die, knowing that his students would be the one to take his life, knowing that it was something for them to remember him by. And now it hurt.

 _It hurt like hell._

And then, there was another photo- which was of also the entire class E, mushed together, Koro- sensei's numerous tentacles were wrapped around each and every one of them, holding everyone together. _Connecting them_. And what was even more beautiful that all of them had bright smiles on their faces at that moment _. Happiness_. That was what they had felt back then. Never wanting those moments to end. It was a deep seated wish of theirs. Something they could never achieve. The moment Nagisa had pushed the green coloured knife through their teacher's chest, their dream was shattered, _completely, utterly_ and they realised that it was _all over_.

Karma groaned and pushed his head back into the pillow. Remembering his former class would always bring a barrage of bittersweet memories in his conscience. He never had been someone talented with dealing emotions, _sure_ he could easily manipulate others' but when it came to handling his own, he always had a hard time. That is why he avoided to keep himself unoccupied.

"Good morning Karma-kun!" a familiar voice full of cheerfulness echoed through his room.

"Morning Ritsu." Karma said lifting his face slightly up to greet their digital classmate who was currently occupying the screen of his cell phone. "What brings you here?"

"I just dropped by to tell you that if you don't get moving in next five minutes, then the probability of you reaching school in time to attend your Maths class will be decreased by 40 per cent."

"I don't wanna go today!" Karma said in reply pouting like a petulant child.

"Need I remind you that today you have test in Maths. Are you going let Asano-kun call you a coward for backing out?"

That got Karma up immediately. "Oh no! That's not happening! He is so going down this time!"

He swiftly moved to the adjoining bathroom to his room, leaving Ritsu on his phone behind.

Ritsu – in more proper terms known as Autonomous intelligence fixed artillery had been bought by class E after they had been rewarded with the money from the government. Karasuma sensei had informed them that she was going to be disassembled as her work of killing koro-sensei was over. Not wanting to lose their classmate, they had taken this particular decision. Since then, Ritsu has become the personal manager of each and every member of class E. She maintained their schedules with the time of their classes, submission dates for their assignments and projects, dates of their various tests, their study material and much more. As a result, class E had become much more organised collectively. For the more forgetful ones – she was a blessing. They appreciated her help.

Fifteen minutes later Karma was fixing himself a quick breakfast and after eating it, he moved out. Travelling through the road with a look of utter boredom, Karma's keen eyes were observing the surroundings, his mind cautious despite his seemingly relaxed body language.

Ever since the beginning of the high school, he busied himself and worked twice as hard before – the pertinent excuse was that he could not let Asano win over him. But subconsciously, it was only a way to prevent himself from losing his composure to the pain.

It was all simple to him. Remembering the past and lamenting over it was worthless. Painful memories fogged your brain and there was no way out. They brought tears. And Karma hated tears. Tears made you weak. No. It was rather tears made you vulnerable. And being the famous devil he was – vulnerability was something he could not afford. Yes, he had cried that day, despite trying his freaking hard not to, but he was also the one first people to gain his composure and help others move on.

He never knew that dealing with the trauma was much harder than killing their teacher. More often than not, he's heard many of their former classmates of E breaking down. They were all struggling in their own separate ways. All of them. The happy memories helped, of course, the others claimed but Karma never allowed himself to dwell on the situation.

He reached his class barely in time. The questions on the test paper were easy, too easy. He was going to score full. Rest of the school day simply floated by. His mind was distracted by his meeting with Manami. Frankly speaking, he loved Thursdays. He liked seeing her and recently she's been making more and more innovative stuff for his pranks! In the time he spent in class E, she became a constant presence in his life. And before he realised it, she had become his confidant. He could talk to her for hours and never get bored. He could tell her about his insecurities and she would never judge. And whenever he would talk, she would listen.

She is not the best in expressing her emotions, very shy around new people, socially awkward, gets confused when people talk with layered meanings and frighteningly innocent. But in the eyes of class E, she was amazing. Her honest and caring nature, her ability to lose herself in whatever thing interested her and her smile were few of the other things that endeared her to class E. Not to mention her encyclopaedic knowledge of science.

This is what others saw in her.

But Karma would like to consider himself lucky that he got to see a side of her that nobody else did. _The fire in her eyes_. The fire that was only visible in her eyes when she is in her lab. Her normally soft lilac eyes would burn with determination, as if they could read the endless possibilities that the world of science opened up for them, as _if anything_ was possible. He knew that he was not the only person who saw it. Their tentacled teacher had also mentioned this trait of hers again and again, to make her realise that her knowledge was something she deserved to be proud of. And Karma had gladly supported it.

Her fiery look in her eyes was something Karma deeply respected, _adored_.

He knew that their friendship was not normal. But he didn't mind. Having her in his life, as an important person, as a _friend_ , was something he welcomed with an open heart, and wasn't going to give up anytime soon. But he will not deny that yesterday's visit was immensely pleasing, oh not just because he got to mess up with the Asano and his minions, but more likely because he got to see her – that is always a pleasure, no matter the circumstance. The big five were simply an addition. It was an amazing experience, although he'll have to be careful from now on since they now knew one of his little secrets.

…

It was lunch break and Karma was idly sipping his strawberry milk when he noticed one of his classmate, a person with poor grades in maths struggling with his maths homework. Karma had noticed this early on that the kid was easily jumpy and frightened, maybe a result of having endured bullying for a long time.

"Oi. Yamaoto-kun! The one on the corner of the right page is wrong." He called out to the brown haired kid in front of him, causing him to startle and look up at him with eyes wide.

"A-Akabane-kun?" he whispered shakily.

Karma did not say anything as he leaned down to point out the error on the page.

The boy erased the error but kept staring at it, making no move to write the correct answer. Karma watched him for a few seconds and deducing that the boy didn't knew how to correct it, he asked.

"Do you need any help with that?" and received a hesitant nod in reply. Dragging the nearest available chair to his classmate's desk Karma plopped himself down on it. He grabbed the notebook of the boy and started explaining a proper way to solve the problems step by step. The boy watched the class delinquent in awe as the hardest part of the solution became fascinatingly easy to him.

"There. This is how it's done." Karma concluded.

Watching the boy stare in disbelief at his notebook, Karma mentally smiled.

 _So, this is how you felt when you made something easy for us to learn. Huh? Sensei?_

He stood up from his seat and pushed the chair back to its original place. Turning to his new student, he said, "You know, Yamaoto-kun, my teacher taught me that there is no shame in asking for help when you need it."

For a few moments, the boy stared up at him in silence.

"Really? You mean you won't mind if I ask for your help, when I find something difficult next time." The kid asked him in a hushed excited whisper.

Karma shook his head with a nonchalant smile on his face but got slightly surprised when the lad in front of him bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you Akabane-kun! I'll keep your words in mind."

And Karma felt contentment. Using your strengths to help others was an important lesson taught to them by their extraordinary teacher. If you could use what you've learned in the assassination classroom to strengthen someone else's blade to help them achieve their target, only then could you have done justice to Koro-sensei's memories and teachings.

 _Well…can this be considered a good deed? What do you say, sensei?_

...

It was a few minutes later that Karma saw the class president Asano had come himself to give him some company. Karma controlled his smirk knowing that it must actually be regarding their adventure from yesterday. Gakushuu leaned against the wall beside the window near Karma's seat.

"Never expected you to be of the glasses type."

That got Karma a bit startled. Don't get him wrong, he knew that the other virtuosos thought the person he was meeting had some romantic connection with him, but he also knew that Gakushuu Asano was always careful with his assumptions and conclusions. Unless he found some strong evidences to support his theories he would not put them out loud.

 _So, you think I've non platonic feelings for Okuda-san? Why does everyone think that?_

But having a retort on the tip of his tongue, Karma replied.

"Never knew that you are a stalker."

He was hardly able to hide his growing smirk due to the rising ire of his rival but was left stunned when the class president asked, "Girlfriend, huh?"

Karma found his head turning towards Asano in a sharp speed, the mischievous smirk being replaced by an indecipherable expression. His eyes dimming.

His voice replied before he could actually put his thoughts in words, "Okuda-san _is not_ my girlfriend."

His rival smirked with his nose held high. "She's not? Then, what is she to you?"

For one of the few moments in his life, Karma had a hard time processing an answer.

 _That's one question that even I've been trying to find an answer too as well._

He knew that he behaved differently with her, he knew that her smiles made his heart skip a beat. He felt comfortable with her. It was not normal. Not for him anyway. He knew that. But just how he does not wish to allow himself to dwell in the memories of his teacher, similarly he also avoids to think of the implications of his weird behaviour and thoughts regarding his closest female friend. It scared him at times when the conclusion he would actually come across would move in a direction that he dreaded.

But one thing was clear to him, when he felt something for someone, it was strong. Romantic relationships might appeal to some people, calling each other 'boyfriend-girlfriend' was attractive, no doubt, but when he sees people changing or leaving their so called 'lovers', ruining their friendships, spreading wrong talks about each other out of spite, avoiding and occasionally fighting, to Karma, that all felt wrong.

If you can't afford to continue a relationship, and find it necessary to betray each other at some point of time than you should rather nip it in the bud itself. There will be less damage. That's exactly what he had done with Nagisa before they'd settled their differences in class E. Friendships and love, for Karma, were not something to be played around or figured out simply by 'trial and error' method.

If you've decided to stay with someone then stick with them through thick and thin, no questions asked. Support them with everything you've got as long as you know that it won't bring them any potential harm. Stand with them in their darkest times if you're strong enough.

That is how it works for him, it always has, and always will.

He cannot imagine leaving _her_ behind. He is simply not capable of doing that. A part of him knows that she will never do it either. She cherishes their relationship, the shine in her eyes tell him. So, if having her as his 'girlfriend' leaves any vulnerability, any chance of them being separated than he's more than happy to have her only as his 'friend'. She is Okuda Manami. She is _his_ _ **friend**_ **.**

And she is _**irreplaceable**_.

So, he explained that to his rival, wondering if his not normal thoughts made any sense to the latter and also himself.

"Definitely not my girlfriend. In my dictionary, it's a shallow term. Especially, when I see people like them flinging it all around every now and then, at anyone and everyone they see." He said pointing out Ren Sakakibara, who had his arm wrapped around his fresh conquest, his so called - 'girlfriend', but his eyes were focusing on someone else and talking and charming another horde of googly eyed girls. Karma almost stuck his tongue out at the scene.

He stood up from his seat and joined his rival, his golden eyes appreciating the outside scenery.

"You ask what she is to me. Then, let's just say _….she's very…_ _ **precious**_ **.** "

He did not turn to see his rival's reaction to his answer because he knew that he could not elaborate more of his feelings. He was satisfied.

For now, Karma knew that was the best answer.

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 **This might have been unoriginal to the people who have read 'Thursday', and I'm sorry about that but I had to write that event from Karma's POV. There was no other option! There was not much plot progress in this chapter but I needed to show you a glimpse of Karma's life before jumping into plot related stuff. The next chapter will focus on Manami.**

 **And please let me know what you think of this piece here.**

 **Thank you!**

 **See you again!**


	2. Chapter 2 Manami's day at high school

_**Hello guys! This is the next chapter of 'Here to Stay'. Truthfully speaking, it was not supposed to be this large and I had quite trouble at more than a few points but somehow, I've managed. I'm still not satisfied but still, decided to present it to you.**_

 _ **Sorry for the stupid chapter title again but it is a parallel chapter to the Karma's one.**_

 _ **Sorry for grammatical and spelling errors. Feel free to point them out.**_

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 _ **Disclaimer: Assassination classroom and its characters do not belong to me.**_

* * *

 _ **Summary- To survive, she needed to be strong and he needed to be weak. For others, she learned to be reliable and he learned to be dependent. In midst of pain and healing, of failing and growing, they found their hearts connected for ever.**_

* * *

 **Chapter – 2**

 **Manami's day at high school**

Her soft footfalls echoed loudly through the corridors of the school. She was on the second floor. The view visible on the other side was splendid. Trees and golden sunrays always worked together to create magic. Spending an entire year in a classroom surrounded by mountains with a teacher who taught you to discover magic in nature's smallest service made you marvel over the world's tiniest detail. Manami found her thoughts appreciating the beauty of nature. The silence in the wind felt immensely soothing.

Why was she here so early? The answer was simple. Chemistry. That was her reason. Well, more appropriately, she has been called to help her chemistry teacher setting up the lab for today's experiment. She reached her destination and slid the door open.

"Misaki-sensei. I'm here." Her gentle voice reverberates through the almost empty lab, save for one head of black hair popping in her vision.

Misaki Aizawa – a fairly young but extremely talented chemistry teacher. A bright and bubbly educator who could make any person comfortable around her. But her bubbliness never dampened her knowledge in any possible way. She was incredible in her subject. Her enthusiasm to teach and her ability to explain hardest of the laws and theories was something Manami found commendable.

If Yukimura-sensei would've lived, she would've found a soul sister in her high school teacher. Even Koro-sensei would've been impressed.

"Oh! Okuda-chan! You're here on good time. I need you to prepare a ten percent oxalic acid for titration. Are you up for the job?"

"Yes Mam!" Manami found herself moving almost hypnotically to prepare the solution. For some reason, Misaki-sensei always insisted that her students call her by her first name like Karma-kun and Nagisa-kun did. And when they are alone, she always refers to Manami as Okuda-chan. To Manami, who barely had any friends before class E, having her chemistry teacher so amazing and understanding had always made her feel happy? Sometimes, it almost felt like she had an older sister.

Slowly the hustle and bustle around the area increased and a well-known sound of bell ringing echoed throughout the corridor, startling both the teacher and student duo who were neck deeply engrossed in the world of molecules and atoms.

"Oh my god! I didn't even notice the time! Okuda-chan, move to the assembly hall now or you'll be in trouble." Manami nodded and left the room after the teacher assured her that she'll cover the created solutions to prevent them from any spoilage and contamination.

Rushing through the corridor she stumbled in to the assembly hall and joined her class of first years – Class-1 B. Oku Tokyo did not segregate its students on the basis of their grades unlike Kunugigaoka did. The students were randomly picked and separated in four sections, each containing forty five students. Although due to the high level of tests most of the students selected were of top tier. But Manami had been the one to top their tests with almost full marks making her noticeable in the eyes of her peers and teachers. The Principal had personally invited her for the results claiming that this was the highest marks scored in their entrance test in the entire history of Oku-Tokyo. Manami had felt her chest swell with pride.

She remembered that Koro-sensei had celebrated with spreading confetti all over the town. The weird things that their teacher did for them! Well, he was weird in his own right. The monotonous sounds of the assembly had been downed in her head. Memories of their out-of-the-world teacher flooded her mind. His yellow, round, smiling face looked so bright in her mind as if it hadn't been months since he had left them. As clear as if she had just witnessed an assassination attempt on him by her classmates just this morning.

She remembered him. She remembered his words.

…

" _Okuda-san! What is the matter? You haven't been making any new chemicals to poison me now a days?"_

 _Manami could not look him in the eyes. For someone, who bragged about how great Science was she had felt nothing but shame and anger at the pain and trouble her beloved teacher had to go through due to someone trying to exploit the subject of natural wonders – her favourite subject - science._

 _Science had ruined Koro-sensei's life. She sensed a sting of immense pain as she thought about the betrayal she felt, after all, she considered Science as her first friend ever before Kayano-san, Kanzaki-san, Karma-kun and all others of E came to her life._

" _I-I don't want Science to cause any more trouble to you." She whispered, her eyes going everywhere except him._

" _Ah. I see, so, you think that you're favourite subject is responsible for what happened to me?"_

" _Of course it is! Is it not? Both you and Yukimura-sensei suffered because of Science. You're now a creature which not even remotely looks human a-and you're going to die and I can't do anything to save you!" All the hidden mess of feelings in her heart jumbled out of her lips, her words choking with her efforts to stop the tears._ _"I was so naïve. I read debates about Science being a curse or a boon since I was a kid. And I always thought how stupid the people were who could not see that it was due to science that we have been able to conquer so many deadly diseases. I deliberately ignored the counter arguments thinking that Science was always good. But now…after knowing that those anti-matter experiments performed on you and Yukimura-sensei's death, Kayano-san's tentacles and all, how can I ignore all that and embrace science the way I did before. I don't even know the path I wish to take. Your condition is a fault, no, a felony caused by Science and not being able to save you is a blunder of mine, and I don't have enough knowledge to save you!_

 _Unable to hold herself back, she broke down._

 _A yellow tentacle reached and removed her glasses off her face as they got blurry with the salty liquid running down her cheeks. A white handkerchief was offered to her, she took it to wipe her tears and blow her nose. She was startled when she felt a slight loving pressure on her head, her tearful lilac eyes coming to meet up his own white beady ones._

" _Okuda-san. My, my. I feel so touched to see you worry about me. But please don't waste your tears on me. It really pains me when I see you children worry about me. And where till the question stands of me and my condition, you have nothing to do with it. Listen to me Okuda-san. I never said this to you in the fear of coming out presumptuous, but science is not a living being for you to believe that it has a mind of its own to come out as right or wrong._

 _It is a tool. It can be right, like being able to produce medicines and treatments, and it can be wrong as well, like the destruction caused by weapons. All are creations of science, good or bad, a product of science along with knowledge and morals of humanity._

 _The way science can be moulded and brought out as different ways solely depends on the heart of its wielder. I can guarantee that you will never use your knowledge to bring anyone any harm. You are a wielder of this great power, this great knowledge, sure, but what makes you different from others is your heart. Especially now that you've witnessed the atrocities of science you're one of those privileged ones who are aware of both the heaven and hell that could be produced by a person having the power of Science at their disposal. You are not Yanagisawa. You are Okuda Manami. Your heart is completely different from him. I know, I know that you will not give yourself up to the 'wrong' because you know what 'wrong' can actually do to ruin other people's lives. I have faith in you Okuda-san. The world needs you to gain more and more knowledge, the world needs you to become the greatest wielder of Science to make a better future out of it._

 _As long as you know the path your heart wants to take, you'll be fine._

 _And me? We still have some time to figure out what would be my final destination."_

…

Those were her teacher's words before Class E had divided itself in to 'Kill' and 'Save' factions and Manami had decided to volunteer herself to support the 'Save' faction because this is what her heart wanted for Science to do.

But when they had finally gained some valuable research data to save Koro-sensei's from the International Space Station, thanks to the efforts of Karma and Nagisa and others, she had let out tears of joy to know that at least someone out there was doing the 'right' thing. She had been immensely surprised and stunned at the same time that the compound which could save Koro-sensei was almost had been her creation this year. She had honestly thought that everything was going to be okay, never expecting the lash-out from the government.

In the end, they had killed their teacher. This was what Koro-sensei had wanted them to do. This is what they had to do to graduate from him. They were Assassins and he was their target. It was the most painful and hardest thing that _she, no, they_ all had done in their entire short lives of fifteen years. The crushing guilt and pain still haunts most of them every now and then but using all the teachings and memories Koro-sensei had provided them with, they were learning to live.

She was brought out of her stupor when a hand lightly tapped her shoulder. "Okuda-san? You okay there?"

The assembly was already over and Manami unconsciously joined the neat file of Class 1 B which was heading down to their respective class.

"Ah. I'm sorry Suzuki-san. I'm fine. Just a bit, I mean I just remembered something. That's all. Sorry to bother you."

"It's alright. You don't have to apologize. You apologize too much, silly."

Akira Suzuki. The class president. One of the most amazing person Manami had ever met. The girl belonging to a high class family, had been blessed perfect looks and brains. She had a soft and yet confident attitude with a tinge of happy spirited personality which could easily turn in to a serious demeanour if the situation called for it. But she never bragged about her position or authority she held over others. She never looked down upon people and treated everyone equally. If Manami was being honest with herself then it was truth that she greatly admired and adored her classmate, no, her friend, she corrected herself.

With her improved social skills, making friends and talking to other people had become much easier for her, she still had bouts of social anxiety every now and then but thanks to Akira and her other friends, she has been doing well.

She silently moved to join the back of classroom. The seat always brought back nostalgic memories and cherished moments and made her feel connected to her former classmates and teachers, this way.

It was duty of the class president to denote the seat numbers and Manami had previously requested Akira to let her have the last bench. She was denied her request at the first time but later was allowed to move to the last bench. Akira had been adamant about accompanying her stating that she was bound to get lonely there all by herself.

Although they were also accompanied by Izumi Minamoto, who, currently was one of Manami's closest friend here. She was a lovely bubbly person, even bubblier than Kayano-chan and also has a potential to transform into an unstoppable chatterbox in the company of right people. She was not the brightest student of the class unlike Manami who excelled in Science and Akira who did well in every subject. But she was frighteningly tenacious and a dedicated hard worker. Manami deeply admired her will to not back down.

Manami could easily claim that she was happy in her high school life. It was nothing like the first two years of middle school where they only friend she had was Science. Of course, it was still nothing like Class E, but certainly better than the life she had imagined for herself before she had been dumped to the Class which changed her life for good.

All in all, the efforts Koro-sensei had made to turn her life and give her a better future had paid off. She could never thank him enough for all the endeavours and trials he had taken for her. Not just him though, but the entirety of class E. For as long as she can remember, people always were bothered by her – how she talked was annoying to them, how she dressed was annoying to them, how she behaved was annoying to them, everything about her was annoying to them. So, she did what she could do to prevent herself from annoying them.

She had decided to become invisible. She kept her distance and never interacted with anyone unless necessary. Of course, it hurt. It hurt a lot. But this was the best choice, a defensive measure to prevent herself from being cut through the razor sharp words that a few people spewed out, ignorant of the damage they cause.

 _At least, loneliness didn't let you bleed._

But a class being the epitome of weirdness – weird students being taught by a definitely weird teacher became the most normal thing, a healing sanctuary in her life. She was not invisible anymore. Class E had accepted her for who she was, without any questions. She was not annoying in their eyes because for them, being weird was normal. Being dumped in class 3 E was supposed to be a miserable fate for anyone and everyone, but in her case, it undoubtedly was the best thing ever that happened to her.

Sometimes, she could not help herself but laugh at the irony.

Two periods before lunch hour, was when Izumi decided to have a little fun with her shy sweet classmate.

"Manami-chan! Why are you smiling? Is it because of your date yesterday with your 'Knight in shining armour'?" the familiar voice of her friend reached her ears, getting her back to her senses.

Manami jumped at the question and looked at Izumi with wide eyes.

"W-what?" she stuttered and a little tint of rose coloured her cheeks.

Izumi giggled and Akira simply smirked in response.

Knight in shining armour was the title or code word which had been given to Karma by Akira and Izumi themselves, when the two girls had heard of Manami's titular story about all of them entertaining the children by performing a play. They, at first, were horrified to know that someone gentle and pure like Manami had been given the role of a Witch. But were scandalously amused when they learned that the Witch had helped the Knight to defeat the monster that had kidnapped the princess. But rather sweeping the princess off her feet, the Knight had grabbed the hand of the Witch and thanked the spectators in the end. Funny thing was that none of the audience and performers of the play were much disturbed by the actions of the Knight.

"I-It was n-not a date! Why does everyone say that?! The bespectacled girl exclaimed.

"Did someone say that as well, other than us?" Akira asked intrigued by Manami's words.

Manami's eyes darted around, "We helped an old woman yesterday. She thanked us by buying us cotton candies but before leaving she said that we looked good together."

"Aah! How cute!" Izumi yelled giggling like a kid.

Manami felt a warmth settle in her chest thinking about her meeting with her former Classmate yesterday. Well, more like her best friend. Even though, class E separated after the graduation from middle school, she knows that they will always be an intriguing part of her life.

Those people changed her life, they were those who made her feel completed, the people who made her feel like she existed.

And Karma…she knows that their friendship is quite odd and she didn't know what to think of their bond other than the fact that she needed him to function properly. She knows it sounds weird but it was an honest observation on her part. Meeting him at least once a week, made her feel excited, made her feel relieved, made her feel happy. Sadly enough, she still hasn't been able to analyse the cause of the shift in her behaviour, especially when having Karma around. Even the silence with Karma by her side was companionable. He understands her even when she messes up with her words. He appreciates when she speaks her mind regarding him and his ways of handling things. Her strange obsession with science does not scare him but rather he has never left an opportunity to provide some appreciation to her knowledge.

But one thing she believes that cements their friendship is the _mutual trust_.

He trusts her enough to let his guard down. He trusts her ample to lay his normally imprisoned feelings bare. He has faith enough in her to admit his greatest fears and insecurities. He has enough belief in her to believe that she'll never stab him in the back like some others had previously certainly did. She knows, _deduces,_ from his eyes that it is not a normal thing for him. And it made her to start respecting her own self to have something in her heart that even someone powerful like Karma would find worthy enough to depend upon. For someone like her, who never had friends before, it is an extremely significant thing.

And for her part, she trusts him enough to know that she would never be hurt in his presence – be it by words or by somebody's actions. Karma, who is still currently famous for his violent tendencies, made her feel the safest with him around. Truthfully speaking, she admired Karma for his strength and his defiance against what he believes is wrong. He was willing to fight for his values and stand up on his own ground and she could not help but respect his tenacity. She had always been a meek and submissive person, words and glares always pierced her heart but Karma, Koro-sensei and all others in class E gave her strength to fight for herself. She is still not a warrior with a sword in hand but rather she still is a witch who has the power to brew deadly poisons. She is an assassin. And she was undeniably proud of it.

The school day went as normal as it could. Manami had been calm, her soul soothed because of her yesterday's meeting with Karma and yet there was a reason that her whole body was slowly getting excited, jittery, because of her upcoming meeting with _him_.

 _Wait, is that even possible? To feel calmness and excitement at the same time._

 _Him_ , you ask?

Of course, the 'him', refers to the previous topper of the school, her senpai, Yamaguchi Hitoshi. He is currently a third year student of the school and the person who held the pedestal of being the highest marks scorer in the Oku-Tokyo's entrance tests before her arrival. Manami was not being boastful, but she never remembers meeting anyone who could come as close to her when it came to the knowledge she possessed in the field of Science. And becoming the top scorer ever of Oku-Tokyo's tests, had done nothing but increased her delusions.

But all of those delusions were shattered the day she saw him.

Oku-Tokyo is famous for organizing scientific debates on recent and hot topic of researches and controversies of the scientific world. He was in a hot-headed debate with one of other extremely popular senpais, the topic of debate was one of the most neoteric researches on the 'space matter and its properties'. She had been aware about the different theories and the accuracy of each one of them but she never expected his counter arguments and visions regarding them and the reasoning and logics he accentuated them with. They were all flawless!

Manami was absolutely blown away with his gigantic amasses of knowledge of Science. And he instantly became a person worthy of her respect for his intellect, more so, when she realised how humble he was about it.

…

 _Library and Lab were two of the most favourite places for her in the school. She had a special spot in one of the corners of the library, free from any disturbance, where she could allow herself to drown in the books and journals. She was stunned when one day she found him occupying her reserved desk but an empty chair was placed beside him. He had looked up from his book, straight at her and smiled gratefully._

" _Okuda Manami-san, right? I've been waiting for you."_

" _M-me?"_

" _Yes! If you are Okuda Manami-san, that is, which I know you are."_

 _It took Manami all the restraint in herself from either jumping up and down on the spot or simply passing out from happiness. She racked her brains to collect all the conversational and social skills she had learned in her time in class E to properly talk to her idol and prevent herself from making a fool out of her own in front of him._

 _She bowed in front of him politely._

" _Yes. I-I'm Okuda Manami. Nice to meet you, Yamaguchi senpai. I'm sorry to disturb you. If you'd please excuse my intrusion." As she readied herself to leave him alone, he quickly spoke up._

" _Okuda-san! Wait! I did not come here to just read. I came here to meet you. Didn't I say that I've been waiting for you?"_

" _You wish to talk to me?" she asked astonished._

" _Yes! Well, you see, as soon as I learned that you were this year's topper and the amazing score you've gained in the test, I've been wanting to meet you for a while. But only today I was able to get a lead on you. I hope you're not creeped out, um, I mean I wasn't stalking you or anything. If you don't mind, I request you to take a seat." He said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck._

 _Manami felt herself smiling at the level of what he considered creepy, as an image of 'Reaper' came in to her mind. She nodded and placed herself on the seat beside him. And then he continued._

" _Actually, the information is confidential but I think I should tell you this. The 'achiever's section' of the entrance paper which contained the highest degree of Maths and Science was set up by me."_

 _Manami felt her eyes widening at his words. What kind of school allowed its students to set up a paper? Maybe realising her train of thoughts, he hastily replied, "Of course, under the supervision of the respective teachers."_

 _Manami released a breath she didn't even knew she was holding, and again found herself staring at him when he said, "To tell you the truth I never expected a middle schooler able enough to solve those kind of questions, I mean some of them were even not known to me before I entered here. And then you came, almost scoring a perfect score in the hardest part of the exam. Your paper was extremely impressive and I was stunned to know that a person who had not even graduated from their middle school back then had solved those questions brilliantly. I really wanted to meet such a great mind myself."_

 _Manami found herself blushing from all the praises he was giving her but then she remembered the only question of the Achiever's section she had not been able to find an answer to, even now._

" _Thank you for you kind words senpai. I feel honoured. But there was one question I was not able to solve."_

" _Ah I remember! It was a question related to 'Equilibrium' if I'm right?"_

" _Yes! That was the one!"_

" _It was the trickiest question the paper I must say! And you almost had it! Do you want me to help you with it?"_

" _Um…only if you are not troubled by it?"_

" _No, of course not!"_

Since that event, Manami had discovered an amazing friend in her senior. He was soft spoken person with a gentle smile and an upbeat behaviour that Manami found herself respecting even more and more with each passing day. They had soon begun to address each other with their first names on his insistence. Their bond solidified over their extreme passion for science and before they knew it, they both found themselves in the labs conducting several experiments in the free period they had just before lunch, and deducing results for all kinds of stuff just for the heck of it.

It was soon after the few months of time in her new school that she had found an extremely interesting organic compound in her parent's journal that she decided to tell him about. And he was so excited at the prospect of finding and researching something new that they actually isolated that compound and discovered its properties of being able to inhibit cell division. They had proudly labelled it as 'Hitman' and laughed over it.

He had exclaimed. "Manami-san! What if 'Hitman' has a possible property of curing cancer?"

And that was why they were on it. That was why she was jittery. They had introduced the 'Hitman' to a bacterial culture and today was the day they'd be noting down the results and observations. Manami found herself actually getting giddy over the possibilities. Finding a cure to a disease that human kind was still unable to defeat sounded as great as conquering over the world. And they were only in high school! She felt that she has so much time. She could do so much more here. She could make Koro-sensei proud. She could change the world.

Ahh! Life was too good, too good to be true.

But somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear a voice, a voice which she ignored again and again, but every now and then it would come back to haunt her.

 _Manami! Slow down! Don't you dare forget his teachings!_

 _All good things eventually come to an end, sooner or later._ _Remember that!_

* * *

 _ **So, what did you people think of this Manami-centered chapter? Ad no, before you worry about Manami having a crush on her senpai, please let me tell you that she doesn't. She only looks up to him as an inspiration. And what do you think of Manami's friends, teachers and school?**_

 _ **Another thing is that I'm sorry for the lack of Karmanami content in the first few chapters. Actually, I first felt the need to describe about the bond that they already have before progressing.**_

 _ **It took a lot of time for me to edit it but I hope I was able to bring out the contrast between the way Karma and Manami are handling Koro-sensei's death.**_

 _ **Please, please let me know what you people think of this chapter! I need to know, I really do.**_

 _ **Thank you!**_

 _ **See you again!**_


	3. Chapter 3 Second chances and Emptiness

_**I'm sorry! This chapter was supposed to come out weeks ago and I just…Well, real life got to me. I have my final exams going ion so please excuse me. I hope you all like the Asano family because they're two of my most beloved characters and this story is going to have a lot of them.**_

 _ **Anyways, let's move on with the chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer : Assassination Classroom and its characters are not owned by me.**_

* * *

 **Chapter-3**

 **Second chances and Emptiness**

Gakushuu eyed the plate of breakfast in front of him with scepticism, his violet eyes were narrowed. His father stood over him, a cooking apron tied around his waist and a wooden ladle in his hand. He looked so out of place in their kitchen that Gakushuu was almost sure that this was a part of some sweet fantasies that he dreamt about when asleep. He was almost tempted to pinch himself to determine if this was a dream or not.

"Dad…? What are you doing? Where is Mom?"

"Well, I would like to think that your eyes are healthy enough to see that I am cooking." The man said to his son, and Gakushuu noticed that his normal poker smile was turning more and more genuine with each passing day. "Or should I cook a bowl of carrot soup for you? It has a lot of Vitamin A, which is responsible for keeping eyes healthy and-"

"Dad! I know that carrots are good for eyes. We learned that in primary school. And thank you very much for you offer but I'd like to decline." Gakushuu said, his voice coated with a twinge of sarcasm. "And where is mom?"

"Your mother decided that she was tired and needed a day out with her companions, so she left, she'll be coming back by the time of dinner."

"She's out?" Gakushuu asked, his eyes widening in amazement. It was not that his mother was an anti-social person or had difficulty befriending people. It was just that it has been so long that his mother did something for her own self that it was actually shocking. She had an upbeat and cheerful personality, but her smile had dampened under the weight of the responsibility of trying to keep peace against constant war between the two most important men in her life. She was the one who kept them sane and alive and working at the cost of her own health and happiness. He could never thank his mother enough to keep up with him and his father's shenanigans.

He felt a tiny smile coming up his face, "I hope she enjoys her day out." His voice softened up with emotion and gratitude. He knew that her smile was getting brighter because of the efforts his father was making to reconnect with them.

"Yes. I hope she does." Gakushuu didn't need to look up from his plate to know his father was smiling in a genuine sense. His mother was one of the only person capable of doing that.

He scarfed down his plate of food, which was surprisingly good, or rather unsurprisingly considering that his father was simply flawless in everything he did. He was contemplating that if the embarrassment was worth to ask for a second helping when another steaming food plate replaced his empty first one. He looked up, his eyes slightly wide.

"If I remember correctly, your martial arts class is in half an hour? I will not allow you to underperform just because you didn't have enough energy. You should have enough strength and stamina to stay at the top of the class."

Gakushuu quickly looked down and stuffed his mouth with a spoonful, trying to avoid answering his father.

Ten minutes later you could see him, leaving the house, but before leaving the threshold, he paused, not sure of his actions, but something compelled him to do what he wished.

"Dad. I'm leaving." His voice echoing through the empty walls of the large house, his mind never expecting an answer in return.

"Gakushuu." He almost jumped, hearing the deep rumble of his father's voice calling out his first name never ceased to startle him.

 _After all, it's been far too long._

He turned around to come face to face to the older man.

"Is your schedule free this evening?"

"…Yes? Is there anything you want me to do for you?"

"I would like to ask for your assistance for cooking a feast comprising your mother's preferred dishes. I think she'll like a surprise dinner."

 _She'll love it. Especially after knowing that we made it for her_ _ **togethe**_ _r._

Gakushuu gives a nod and immediately moves out. He feels the gaze of his father's violet orbs on his back before he completely moves out of his sight.

His feels his chest swell with something warm, a smile lighting up his handsome features.

 _Maybe…just maybe…we could be whole again._

…

Nagisa enters the small family restaurant, the smell of spices and oil lingering in the air, filling the tiny and cosy room, creating a comfortable and yet savoury environment. His azure eyes scanned for a head of red locks in the crowd of few people in the little space that the restaurant provided. His eyes immediately found the waving arm of his best friend.

"Nagisa! Here!"

A little smile came up on Nagisa's face as he moved to join the table for two that Karma had picked somewhere in the corner of the room.

"Hey! Karma, I'm sorry! I got caught up in something at the last moment."

"No big deal. I just arrived anyway." Karma replied, sipping his pack of strawberry milk nonchalantly. But before they could continue, the waiter arrived to take their orders.

…

"Seriously?!"

"Does it look like I'm kidding around?" Karma asked with a smug smile.

"No! But I mean like…really? Asano Gakushuu and the big five followed you and Okuda-san around?"

"Yes! It was so funny, I swear, and you know what was even funnier?"

"What?"

"Those Idiots, and even surprisingly Asano thinks that I have some romantic feelings for Okuda-san!"

And Nagisa wondered that should he bang his head against the table for his friend's obliviousness or find himself amused for the fact that even Karma's greatest rival can see what his friend couldn't?

But something in his head told him that Karma was not as oblivious to his situation and feelings as he made himself out to be. Especially when it came to in regards with her.

 _Are you attempting to hide and run, Karma?_

But before his internal questions could be answered, a familiar ringtone pierced the silence between them. Nagisa fished out the source of the sound from his pocket, the screen displayed a cognizant name, and he found his lips twitching into a smile involuntarily.

"Go ahead." Karma softly said, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes was visible.

Nagisa smiled in return and lifted himself up from his seat moving towards the exit, casting a glance at Karma. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Karma waved his arm carelessly to let Nagisa know that it was all right.

The vapours arising from the food plate in front of him had waned as he leaned into the chair picking a spoonful and simply chucking it down his throat. His golden eyes travelled to the chipped moon visible through the glass of the window and he could almost see a yellow grinning face. He exhaled a deep breath.

A whirlwind of questions stormed his mind. Twisting and turning, spiralling out of control.

 _Did everyone among them felt so empty inside? Or was it just him? Sometimes he wonders if he's lost his purpose in life. The only time that hollow ache vanishes is when he spends his time with them. With the people he considers precious._

At times, when there would be nothing to do, Karma felt as if the emptiness within him had transformed into an ocean. A shallow one. The dark murky water only reached up to his knees.

But it scared him.

It was not suffocating.

It was just unending.

It was not as if he could not breath, it was just that it was simply tiring – darkness was overwhelming.

It was not as if he could die, it was not lethal.

It was just devoid of any sign of life.

 _It was empty._

His eyes were still fixated on the moon when Nagisa returned. He immediately wiped the look that displayed sadness from his face and covered it up with an impish expression.

"Aah! Nagisa! What did Kayano-chan say? Did she tell that she needs a kiss from you?"

As soon as Karma's words registered to his brain, Nagisa found his face turning in to a shade of pink.

"What?! Karma! You know she only thinks of me as a friend and anyway, why would someone amazing like her would want to have something to do with me? She'll find tons of better men out there in the acting industry."

Karma released an almost exasperated sigh.

 _You have no idea._

 _Dude, even when you're the best in reading people's mind in E, but I think you're almost scary with your obliviousness to the feelings of love._

 _Poor Kayano-chan._

Karma resisted the urge to shake his head.

"You know, Kayano asked if you were free this Sunday."

"Hm…why?"

"She's planning a small get together at her house."

"For entire Class?"

"No. well…just me, you, Okuda-san, Kanzaki-san and Sugino?"

"Sugino? So, he's finally found time, huh? And yeah, I'm free."

"Yeah, he's been busy with his baseball training. His trainer finds incredible potential in him so, he's lugged day and night."

They both sweat dropped when an image of Sugino from their last encounter popped in to their minds. The poor lad was so tired that he fell asleep in the middle of their hangout and they had to drag him home, half unconscious.

"I hope that this get together doesn't end like the previous one for him." An uneasy smile came upon his lips.

"Yeah. He cried for three days straight saying that how shameful it was for Kanzaki-san to see him in such a state."

…

The cold wind, blowing with gentleness, messed up his bangs. He closed his eyes to savour the coolness. Although his peace of mind was disturbed when his phone beeped.

 _1 message from Mum._

It displayed brightly. Karma immediately slid the screen to read it.

 _Mum: Are you home yet?_

His fingers typed back a response _–_

 _In a few min._

A fond smile crept upon his lips, he placed the phone back in his pocket, knowing that his parents were actually waiting for him to reach home, after all, their Skype session was an almost daily ritual performed irrespective of the time and the work with accordance to the country they were currently staying. The Skype session always took place according to the Japanese time even if it meant for them to stay up entire nights just to talk to him.

The smile faded away as soon as his eyes came back to rest on to Nagisa.

 _He's looking at the moon._

The face that consistently has a smile adorning it was currently betraying longing and regret. Karma turned to look back at the road again, his fists clenched, golden eyes slightly drooped, but could not stop himself asking, "Do you still get nightmares?"

The question was almost in an inaudible volume since he knew the answer.

Karma was almost certain that his companion had not heard his question but then Nagisa replied, his voice heavy due to something akin to sorrow, "Yes, I do."

And Karma does not attempt to pry more but neither does he say what he wants to.

 _I get them too._

He thinks that a few things are simply better left unsaid.

…

As Nagisa enters his home, he is greeted by his brightly smiling mom.

"Welcome home Nagisa!" she welcomes her son with enthusiasm.

"Hi Mom. What's the matter? You look quite much happier than usual?"

"Oh! I'm happy because your dad's cooking the food tonight."

"Oh? Is that so?" Nagisa wonders out loud.

Just a year ago if someone had told Nagisa that one day when he'll be returning to a home like this, a home which radiates love, satisfaction and peace then Nagisa would have politely smiled and brushed them off. But now, thanks to a certain someone and a band of troublemakers, this fantasy was finally a reality.

"Yes! And it's been so long, I've had the chance to eat something cooked by him." His mother sighs dreamily. It's almost hard to believe that his mother was a fan of his father's cooking.

Nagisa grins and then calls out to his father, "Dad! Do you need some help?"

A head of black pops out from the kitchen and his father exclaims, "Sure. If you don't mind, that is."

Nagisa skips to the kitchen happily humming, wondering if the person he held dear to his heart was watching him from above. Could he see how his efforts had paid?

 _Can you see how happy I am, for the life you've given me?_

…

It was only when he was preparing his bed to a night's sleep, his phone beeps again. This time the message is from Okuda-san.

It asked: _Are you going to Kaede-chan's get-together on the Sunday?_

A soft smirk adorned his face. Her presence, in any way, never failed to uplift his mood.

He replied: _I will only if you come. Are you coming too, Okuda-san?"_

A few second later his phone lit up again.

Her message said _: Okay! I'm coming to the get-together. Can't wait to meet Yukiko-chan, Sugino-kun and Nagisa-kun!_

Meeting Kayano-chan was a normal thing for her as normal it was for him to meet Nagisa. His fingers swiftly type back: _Don't you wanna meet me too? I'm hurt Okuda-san_.

He eagerly waited for her response. It was rare moments like this when he gets the assurance that he still has an important, an irreplaceable spot in her life. He doesn't contemplate about the weirdness of his behaviour, all he knows, is that he wants to be a part of her life.

 _ **For as long as you let me.**_

Soon, he gets a response: _Silly Karma-kun! We met just two days ago, and anyways, I'm always excited to see you! I've so much to talk to you about_.

His fingers hover over the keypad almost wanting to type _me too,_ but then he instead writes,

 _Is that so?_

 _Yes!_ Comes her reply. A slightly tingling sensation runs through his heart.

She does not know, how much he appreciates her being so talkative in front him. He really loves the moments when people point at her and then question him, "She talks?" and he replies, smirking, "You've no idea."

After a span of ten minutes, talking about everything and anything, he tells her: _Go to sleep, Okuda-san. It's late._

The above statement is replied by her in following words: _You too, Karma-kun. I'm not the one who Ritsu has to wake up almost every day._

He feels as if he has been betrayed, seriously, by a software?

 _Come on, I told you I'm not a morning person!_

 _Okay! Okay! I know! Go to sleep karma-kun! Good night and Sweet dreams!_

 _You too_ , he types back as he falls on to the bed, still staring at the screen.

 _Sweet dreams, huh? Maybe I will have one tonight._

He thinks as he snuggles in to the blanket, still having a tiny smile on his face, ready to wake up a new morning, hoping to see the people who make him smile, always.

* * *

 _ **Well this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones, and neither much of the Karmanami nor plot. But the next chapter definitely contains more of them.**_

 _ **And I'm sorry if Karma looks OOC here. But I wanted to explore more of his personality and inner feelings. Many people make him out to be invulnerable (I think it's because he behaves in a way to make sure that people do not find his vulnerable side). But I always have had a head canon regarding it that people who hide their emotions the most are the ones who feel the most but are afraid to express it. So that's what I have been trying to depict here? Not sure about how you all perceive though.**_

 _ **Please don't hesitate to tell me about your thoughts regarding this chapter.**_

 _ **See you again!**_


	4. Chapter 4 A day full of fun

_**Okay, everyone! I know I'm late and I apologize. This thing was sitting in my drafts almost done for an entire month but I didn't had the time to edit it. So, I'm sorry, really!**_

 _ **Anyways, all of your previous reviews keep me motivated so a big thank you to all you lovelies!**_

 _ **This chapter definitely has a lot of ship content so I hope you all will like it!**_

 _ **Apologies for mistakes in advance.**_

 _ **Disclaimer : Assassination Classroom and it's characters are not my property.**_

* * *

 **Chapter - 4**

 **A day full of fun and awkward Encounters**

Nagisa smiles when he sees the famous Cake shop on his way to Kayano's. Knowing the love for sweets that both Karma and Kayano share, Nagisa does not hesitate to buy one. As he enters the shop, he is graced with the sweet and heavenly aromas of freshly baked bakery. He heads over to the display and finds himself in a dilemma. The strawberry one? Or the tooty-frooty? Or the black forest? Or the Chocolate?

"Oh God. What have I gotten myself into?" he groans to himself.

…

Karma softly whistles, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. A part of him is hardly able to hold the excitement of meeting the closest people to him together and spending time with them for a few hours. He turns around the corner when someone almost bumps in him. Though he sidesteps the person quite easily.

But he immediately recognizes the panting guy in front of him. His brows shot up in surprise, "Sugino?"

Hearing the familiar voice Sugino's head lashes up, "Karma? Long-time no see, huh?" he grins brightly.

Karma smiles a smile which leaned towards a genuine side. He had always liked the guy. In Karma's eyes, Sugino was a kind person. The boy despite having immense talent and athletic potential never boasted about it. He was a simple person. No hidden agendas, no sly motives, just a plain honest drive to win. And Karma being Karma liked to stay in the company of simple people.

"Yes, good to see you, buddy." Karma replied smiling.

But then Sugino straightened up and looked around, "Have you seen Nagisa, yet? He told me he was just here."

Karma tilted his head to a side, "Nope. I have yet to meet him." Just as the words left his mouth, they heard a familiarly distinctive voice calling them out.

"Karma! Sugino! Wait up for me!"

Nagisa was at the other side of the road, clutching a large paper bag to his chest with one arm. As soon as the traffic lights flickered and changed shades Nagisa caught up to them.

"Hey, you two." He was slightly out of breath.

"What's that?" Karma moved forward to grab the bag in Nagisa's arms, but the little blue boy moved away swiftly.

"Not telling you!" Nagisa yells out, his stance slightly defensive.

Karma grins devilishly before attempting again but the buzz of the phone stops him in the tracks. The screen displays **'Okuda-san'** in bold letters. He taps the call icon to accept.

"Karma-kun?"

"No, this is Akabane's kidnapper speaking." He smirks wide, replying in a nonchalant way.

Both Nagisa and Sugino look at him with stupefied horror. There is some silence on the other end of the line. Before he hears her dead-panned voice, "That was a stupid joke Karma-kun."

He laughs at her response but then hears her ask, "Are Sugino-kun and Nagisa-kun there with you?"

He gives a side glance to the mentioned people and gives her an affirmative reply.

"When will you all reach here? Kayano-chan's being on edge currently."

"We're on our way. Be there in a few minutes, okay?" his voice softens, he hears the distinctive click of end call and removes the little device from his ear.

"Okuda-san said that Kayano-chan's being on edge. Nagisa, do you know something about this?"

He gets a shake of head in reply at first but Nagisa tells them, "I don't know, but yeah, when called me to invite me on the event she sure was a bit anxious. I asked if she was okay but she laughed it off. Now, that Okuda-san mentioned this, I'm a bit worried."

They are startled when Sugino jogs past them, "Hey? What are you two doing? Let's put our skills to some good use!" he grins.

Nagisa and Karma share a look before breaking into a full sprint.

…

In a few minutes, they are at Kayano's apartment, panting and hands resting on their knees. The door opens and Kayano grins at them. It does not take Karma much time to determine that she looks different. She has bunny ears…on her head? He looks at Nagisa to affirm this but almost falls off laughing at the pink blush that Nagisa is sporting at the moment. Suddenly, Kanzaki pops out from Kayano's side. She has bunny ears too.

And Sugino does fall down as a stuttering mess with a pink face. Kanzaki smiles at him and moves to help him up.

"What is this Kayano? You're already tiny, now bunny ears? Plan on becoming a little helpless rabbit?" he grins impishly.

She blushes but then looks him square in the eye, as if challenging him, "I was moving around the city yesterday and found these. They're cute, aren't they?" she fingered one ear on the top of her head but then almost hissed, smiling, "although Manami-chan's is much cuter."

Karma realised what she meant when a shy Manami peeked out from the hall.

She had _cat_ ears.

 _Shit!_

There was tiny blush adorning her cheeks and she was visibly embarrassed. Karma sensed his heart skipping a beat.

 _What the hell?_

If he would've been aware of his surroundings and himself, he would've witnessed the knowing looks that Kayano and Nagisa shared at his predicament. His cheeks gained a tint of rose when she came to stand in front of him, fidgeting.

"Do I-I look weird?" it takes him a lot of time to process her words, but before he could say something, Sugino tells her, "Okuda-san, you look fine, cute even."

She gives him a beautiful thankful smile in return when Kayano tells them to come inside, and Karma has a hard time getting his eyes off Manami. She laughs at something Kayano must have said to them. But then he shakes his head.

 _Get a hold of yourself, Karma. It's just Okuda-san._

…

"Karma-kun, can you please bring the drinks kept on the kitchen counter, please?" Kayano requests.

"Sure." He replies and moves into the kitchen. Manami follows him.

"Okuda-san came to help me? How nice of her!" he exclaims grinning.

She shakes her head at his antics and grabs a tray and few more glasses as Karma pours the drinks into a few.

"By the way, Karma-kun," she says nonchalantly, "next time try to make some believable jokes. Because if you ever get kidnapped, I don't think your kidnapper would be able to talk with a straight face."

He chuckles, "Aah! Good to know that Okuda-san thinks so highly of me. But without your chemistry stuff, I would be in a pinch Okuda-san. You keep me safe, you know."

And Karma knew he wasn't lying. The chemical concoctions she brewed for him were indispensable. He does not have enough fingers to count how many times her creations had helped him gain an upper hand in troublesome situations. And it was just not about chemistry. It was a matter of her simple presence in his life. Meeting her in class E, it was a life changing point for him. Not just meeting her, but becoming a part of class E in general. But thanks to her and Koro-sensei, he learned to trust people. He learned that not everyone here is eager to stab him in the back. She helped him to open up to the rest of the class. She made him a part of class E, rather than just being an outsider. She taught him that he could have friends too.

And the funny thing is that she was learning that all alongside him.

Her bell like laugh chimes, filling his ears and increasing his heart rate. He steals repeated glances at her and softly smiles.

…

"So, I have something to tell you guys." Kayano says and Nagisa detects a twinge of nervousness in her voice. He grows alarmed.

"What is it?" he is particularly thankful to Karma for asking that question.

She takes deep breath to calm herself and then says in clear voice, "I am returning back to the Acting industry."

In midst of exclamations and congratulations Nagisa finds himself not being surprised. He had a hunch that she was going to tell them about this. In their recent chats she had mentioned about meeting her previous manager again. A part of him is happy about her moving on, but a selfish part of him wants her to stay with them. _With him._

And he could not help but hate himself for it. His self-loathing is strong but he gets a break when he hears her voice.

"I just wanted to let you all know first, since you're all the closest friends I ever had." She is fidgeting.

"Good for you, Kayano-chan. You're going to be the first one among all of us to have an established career." Karma laughs, although it did not escape his notice that Nagisa had been silent since the moment she had made her big announcement. "What do you say, Nagisa?"

Nagisa jumps at the mention of his name but then looks at Kayano. His gaze is stern.

"Kayano, we need to talk."

The entire group falls silent at his request, more like a command, Karma notes.

…

They stand out in the balcony of Kayano's apartment, just the two of them. Kayano feels her heart beating faster. The orange, red and pink colours are dusted all over the sky, the sun is going down, highlighting the crumbling moon.

"So, you're going back to acting, huh?" his blue eyes are still at the drowning sun when he whispers.

"Yes." She answers but is confused about his weird behaviour. Nagisa rarely acts like this, maybe only when something is bothering him. Kayano feels a little uneasy.

"Kayano, I'm glad…but…" he hesitates.

"But…what's wrong?" she is worried now.

"Okay, just promise me…promise me that you won't forget about us!" he exclaims out.

"Of course I won't. I can't even if I tried." She replies, staring at him, wondering about the scandalous words. Something in her heart hurts.

"No! I didn't mean that! What I meant…is…well" he exhales out, moves forward and grips her hand into a firm grip of his own, but his voice is soft, "Kayano, I know you. I know you feel lonely, and I know you've always had a tendency to attempt to hide your pain and problems from us. I want you stop that.

I don't doubt your strength. It's just, I…I always hear about actors and actresses not being able to handle all the stress. They break and I don't want any of that to happen to you. After everything that happened, we all need each other. Koro-sensei and Aguri-sensei. Well, I trust the sharpness of your blade, it's just, I worry about it.

 _I worry about you._

Eh well…I just rambled on but what I want to say is please, please if you ever need us for anything, even if it is just as trivial as needing someone to talk to, we'll all be here. Kanzaki-san, Okuda-san, Sugino and Karma and all of E. And me, I'll be here for you as well, always."

She is speechless. How, did he know that she was anxious? But then again, its Nagisa. She feels a lump in her throat.

He is shocked when he feels her warm and wet tear drop land on their conjoined hands. She is shaking, with difficulty, she steps forward and places her head against his shoulder.

"Thank you."

And Nagisa pretends not to notice her voice cracking. He wraps a warm arm around her shoulders, wanting to share warmth. They stay like that for a while.

…

Kanzaki bites her lip in worry. It's been quite a time since Nagisa and Kayano had left the scene. She is not a paranoid person, but she is still prone to worry beneath her cool façade of perfection.

There is warm touch on her elbow. Her head snaps up to a softly smiling Sugino.

"Kanzaki-san, don't worry. They'll be fine." He tells her gently but with enough confidence to be correct.

"How can you be so sure?" she is fast to retaliate.

He looks at her with an indecipherable expression, "There is a lot they share, you know? A lot they hide as well. And there is a side they only show to each other."

' _A lot they hide as well.'_

His words ring in her head continuously. Yes, they hide. No one had expected Nagisa to come from such a dysfunctional family and wield this uncanny talent in the art of Assassination. And no one had expected Kayano to have such a painful past and such dangerous motives, with those powerful and deathly tentacles on her side.

A tired sigh escapes her lips. Thinking about all this is a troublesome, and very energy sapping. She is bit startled when a glass of cold water appears right under her nose. Although, she takes the glass and gulps it down in an unladylike fashion.

"Relax, kay?" he gives her such a brilliant smile that she feels all the tension leaves her body. She didn't knew what others thought of her relationship with Sugino but she knew of the affect he had on her.

"Yes, thank you." Her voice reflects the gratefulness she feels for him.

…

It does not escapes Karma's notice, the frequent glances that Manami was throwing at the door which separated the balcony from them. Although, he does not make any attempts to point out the fact. But rather calls her out to divert her attention.

"Okuda-san!" he exclaims jumping on to the couch she was sitting.

"Huh?" she looks at him with those beautiful lilac eyes with a question mark floating up above her head.

"You said you wanted to tell me something?" and this question is enough to make her ramble on. She looks at him with so much excitement that he feels himself smirk.

"Yes! Karma-kun, 'Hitman' stopped the bacterial growth much more than we ever expected! I'm so glad!" It was not very uncommon for him to listen to her chattering on about her experiments and chemistry. He never got bored from hearing her. Whenever she would talk about Science, her expressions would be so evincive and her words would be so clear and loud that traces of the virtually shy and awkward Okuda-san almost vanish. And he clearly enjoyed seeing her this way.

Her voice seems like ariose to him.

"But you know what, I don't think I would've been able to do it without Hitoshi-kun's help." She chirps, her yes gleaming.

Karma inwardly winces at the mention of that particular name. That particular name always leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and he feels a sense of discomfort in the pit of his stomach. And he hates himself for that.

 _You're pathetic._

The feeling of guilt consumes him. Her iridescent smile at the moment does nothing to help him against that guilt. He was selfish. Very selfish. Especially when it came to her. Karma loathes himself for it, but he does acknowledge the fact that he is envious of the relationship that Manami has with this Yamaguchi senpai. He understands the admiration that Manami has for this guy. He is after all, a named prodigy in the field of Science, and his name is famous at Kunugigaoka as well. And he also admits that Manami might learn a lot from this guy but the self-absorbing attitude that Karma knew he had always possessed did not allow him to share her with someone else with enough enthusiasm from his part.

Why?

Because he feared.

Because he was a coward.

Because he did not want to be left alone again.

If she leaves him for that guy, if that guy would become his Okuda-san's best friend, then he would alone all over again. Yes, he would have Nagisa and the others but no matter how much he denies, he knows, he knows that Okuda-san is different.

She is important. Well, more than he would like to admit.

"-arma-kun? Karma-kun?" her frantically waving hand in front of his face, almost touching his nose startles him. His hand automatically shoots up and grasps hers.

"Are you okay?" she asks with her voice laced with something similar to worry, but strangely enough, she does not make any attempt to free her hand from his hold.

 _How can I let you go when you allow me to touch you like this?_

"Ah, I'm fine. You don't have to worry." He wonders what the hell he is doing when his hand refuses to let go off her wrist. He marvels over the fact that her wrist is tiny enough for his fingers to circle around. He looks down and sees that she, herself is tiny compared to him. Yes, she has grown. Maybe she is around the same height as Nagisa. Okay for a girl but still too small for him. And he simply grins at the prospect of finding a new observation regarding her.

It's funny, really funny that even though she sees him grinning like a maniac, which would have been enough to make normal people run from him with their tails tucked between their legs, she still gives him an unabashed genuine smile.

…

A few seconds later, Kayano and Nagisa enter the house again. Both of them smiling, and Kayano definitely looks happier and lighter. Manami finds her lips twitching into a smile when she peeks over at Karma, sitting beside her. He is smiling as well, and sends a curt nod at Nagisa's direction.

"Alright!" Nagisa yells out excitedly, "since Kayano is taking a big step in her carrier, we ought to celebrate. With a cake, of course." He grins at Kayano, with a smile on his face as she looks up at him in awe.

Hearing this, Karma perks up. "Cake? So, that's what you had in that brown paper bag?" Nagisa nods and goes inside the kitchen to bring out a pink cake box.

Everyone laughed hard as Kayano skipped to the cake literally like a child with Karma following behind. Everyone knew that Karma had a sweet tooth. So, it didn't surprise them. And Kayano was already established as the 'sweet freak' in their class.

…

Nobody remembers how the cake war started. But Manami knows, she just knows that Karma is the one behind this catastrophe. It was just a second ago, that a bubbly Kayano was jumping up and down to cut the cake and the next moment, she had her face painted with white and pink cream.

Manami almost jumped out of her skin at her scream, but before she could realise, a full Cake war had commenced between the group of friends. The entire apartment was filled with shrieks and laughter. And Manami being too shy and not wanting to get involved, simply slid out of the scene without anyone's notice and carefully crouched behind the couch that she and Karma had been occupying some minutes ago. Being invisible helped her to escape confrontations easily. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew, she knew that Karma would be after her soon. She never understood, but no matter what the situation was, Karma always had an eye on her.

She waited with abated breath, the ruckus still going on in full force in the room when a large shadow fell over her. Even without the need of looking up, she knew that it was Karma. But despite the danger, she raised her head fearfully and lo and behold! The red devil was peeking over the couch with an absolutely feral grin extending all over his face.

Manami squeaked and ran, Karma jumping over the couch, right on her heels. It was not long before she was trapped in the corner of the room. Karma's large body and extreme agility was her doom and he was still grinning maliciously.

Manami was confused, instead of feeling fear, her body was thrumming with excitement. And before she knew it, large hands greased with the rich cream were rubbed across her cheeks, fast enough for her to not being able to prevent it and careful enough to not ruin her glasses.

"Karma – 1 and Okuda-san – 0." He tells her confidently. "I won." He then declares.

"Was this a game?" she asks dumbfounded.

Karma leans down to slightly tease her. "No Okuda-san, it is not a game. It is a war."

Suddenly, Manami's eyes blaze and she feels adrenaline pumping in her veins at the mention of war. She knows that what she is about to do is too risky but everything is fair in love and war, right?

And poor Karma never sees this coming. One minute he had been bending at her level to tease her and the next he is violently being yanked down by the collar of his shirt.

 **What.**

He finds his heart thumping in his chest at a violent rate.

 **Is.**

But when she tips her head forward, his brain completely stops functioning.

 **She.**

But when a sensation of something soft, wet and oily is felt on his cheeks, his brain short circuits.

 **Doing?**

He is still not recovered as his hand reaches up to touch his cheeks. They were smeared with the cream of the cake. She had brushed her icing covered cheeks against his jaw, decorating him with pink and white cream too.

She grins at him and tells him assertively, "Now, Karma-kun – 1 and Manami – 1 as well." She simply slides out of the corner that he still does not dare to cover and laughs, "we tied."

She runs to the room where the chaos is still going on, wanting to enjoy herself even more. Her mind still is at the high of exhilaration at having caught Karma off guard. Although she does wonder – if it was just a game, if she did just do that to catch her best friend off guard then why is her heart beating so fast?

Unbeknownst to her, Karma is still standing there in the corner, his brains still trying to piece the event that had just occurred, a hand over his chest to control the heart that was threatening to burst out of his chest. His face is coloured in the shade of an even intense red than his own hair.

 _What the hell just happened?!_

How can someone so small and soft person like her can evoke such a frightening response out of him? It was not fair! He wanted to scream, but the barely functioning part of his brain convinced his body that it would be a bad idea. So, instead he leaned his forehead against the wall, willing the coolness of the concrete to seep into him to calm is erratic heartbeat.

…

It was only five minutes later, he entered the room again to find the situation has been controlled but Kayano had the big fat tears hanging on her eye lashes.

"Cake!" she sobbed and Karma found himself sweatdropping, and even a bit guilty.

"Here" Nagisa from somewhere suddenly pulled out another pink box.

"You brought two?!" everyone exclaimed.

"Yeah, I could not decide which flavour out of these two." He rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture.

But nobody complained when Kayano's eyes sparkled. Nagisa chuckled at her antics and pulled out the knife.

It was not long after that they decided to call it a night. Everyone went their own ways but two of them remembered the weird encounter they had with each other and the typhoon of feelings that emerged out of it.

…

It was the next morning when the avalanche of Karma's worst fears fell upon him.

When he entered the classroom after lunch break, Sanada-chan came running to him. "Akabane-kun! I have something to tell you!"

Chizu Sanada was his classmate and one of the girls he occasionally talked to. She was a level headed girl with an athletic streak and an appropriately optimistic attitude. She was someone he could easily tolerate talking too and didn't mind being a helping hand at her side.

His golden eyes shone with interest, it did not escape his sharp notice that she seemed anxious. "What's the matter, Sanada-chan?"

…

Karma could not control the weird twisting of his heart, and also the knot in his stomach did nothing to help. He was jumping two stairs at a time to reach the rooftop for some privacy as fast as he could. The phone in his arm was clutched tightly against his ear.

"Nagisa! Pick up. Dammit!" he mumbled as he pushed open the door to the rooftop and closed it after him with a bang.

After a few rings, the call was attended and the familiar voice asked, "Karma? What's going on? Speak up fast! My class is about to start."

Karma slammed his head against the wall as he groaned, "That bitch."

"B-bitch?" for a second Nagisa believed that it was their Bitch-sensei, but the venom in Karma's voice was more than enough for being an indication that it was not their middle school English teacher. It suddenly dawned upon him.

 _That bitch! Shit!_

Panic in Nagisa's voice was evident when he almost yelled out, "What did she do this time, Karma?!"

There was something dark and sinister in his voice when he hissed, "She transferred."

After a bit of troubled contemplative silence on the other side, Nagisa tentatively asked, "That's a good thing, right?"

Nagisa was startled when Karma's bitter laugh reached his ears, "If only I would have been that lucky!"

But what he said next made shivers run down Nagisa's spine. It was at that moment, all of Karma's fears and frustrations made sense to him.

"Of all the high schools here in this world, she transferred to Oku Tokyo."

* * *

 _ **Now, for those who have read 'Thursday' may know who is that 'bitch'. And the fun fact is that even after graduation, Karma and Manami stayed close enough to perform pranks together! Hahaha! So this fic is quite close to canon. Trust me, Korotan D is proof.**_

 _ **and I'm really sorry for all the OOCness but I can't ignore the thought of writing flustered Karma. Writing him is my guilty pleasure!**_

 _ **Please don't forget review and tell me your thoughts! And thank you for all your favs and follows.**_

 _ **See you again!**_


	5. Chapter 5 Jealousy and milkshakes

**First of all, sorry for being so late with this chapter. I was stuck and I still need to clear a few things before the next chapter comes up. Although I hope that the characters are not very OOC.**

 **Thank you for your encouraging reviews and comments. They really motivate me.**

 **Now, let's move to the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Assassination classroom and its characters are not owned by me.**

* * *

 **Chapter -5**

 **Jealousy and milkshakes**

Isogai stared at the cell phone in his hands. His fingers hovered over the screen to type something important in the chat of the LINE group that was specifically prepared for the assassination classroom.

His new school was fine and he was grateful that he had company of Megu and Takebayashi unlike several others of his classmates who were struggling alone. Yes, he was much closer to Megu than compared to Takebayashi but he wouldn't deny that the company of the lean tall friend was cherished by him. But at the moment, Megu and Takebayashi weren't enough.

He wanted to see them.

He wanted to see all of them.

Yes, it was too soon for a normal class to hold a reunion. In fact, it wasn't even a complete year yet but this class was far from normal. They've went through much hell compared to an ordinary class and he wanted to meet them again, know them again, to witness the new changes in them, to be aware of about a part of their lives in which he wasn't involved anymore.

With courage in his heart and hope in his conscience he begins to type out a message.

A smile stretches upon his lips when the normally vacant chats boom with life in response.

…

Karma trudges along the road that lead to Oku-Tokyo. His arms were inside his pockets and a bored expression on his face. Today was not a 'Thursday' and he knows that Manami would be busy but now he is here, only on a whim to see her and surprise her and maybe, he was even anxious regarding that 'bitch' as much as he hated to admit.

As soon as he reaches the school, the gates open and a swarm of children of different shapes and sizes escape out. Of course a lot of people stare at him and excited whispers reach his ears but he ignores them casually.

He leans against the wall and closes his eyes when his keen instincts of an assassin alert him of a new presence. His golden eyes open to come face to face with Suzuki Akira.

Manami's friend, he realises.

"Yo." He gives her a nonchalant smirk which she returns and then asks, "What are you doing here? Today is not 'Thursday.'"

"Ah. Is there a rule Suzuki-san, that I can't visit Okuda-san on any other day?'

"Well, of course not. Just saying. Do you want me call her out? She is in the lab with Yamaguchi senpai."

Karma holds himself from flinching back in front of her.

"Please do." He tells her.

His eyes follow her until she vanishes off in to the building. He feels a strong sense of self-hating emanating from himself because he knows that if Okuda-san would've been alone he might have refused the offer, letting her take her sweet time in the lab. But he knows that maybe that Yamaguchi senpai might be good in Manami's eyes but for someone like him, who always emphasises in keeping his guard up, trusting someone he didn't knew with the well-being of his closest friend did not sit well with him.

It's not that he doesn't trust Manami's judgement, it's more like he has seen far too many wolves in sheep's clothing.

A sigh escapes his lips.

Some little noise and some little commotion attracted his attention. There she was! But the company she had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Suzuki was fine but the male walking beside Manami was a little too close to her for Karma's comfort. His fist unknowingly clenched inside his pocket when she saw Manami laugh at something which the guy must have said.

She wasn't supposed to laugh with him like that. Only he was allowed to make her laugh.

 _You're wrong._

A voice in his head said that.

"Karma-kun!"

But for his satisfaction and happiness, as soon as the girl saw him, she squealed and ran towards him with as much speed as her body allowed. Her little braids bounced behind her and her eyes gleamed in delight. A big smile was etched upon her face, beautifying it.

And Karma couldn't hold back a grin at the sight.

 _Damn, you're too bright for your own good._

She came to stand in front of him and pouted cutely, "No fair Karma-kun. You should've told me that you were coming to see me!"

Karma laughed, "I would've but I didn't knew either! I just came here on a whim."

"Manami-chan, won't you introduce me to your friend?"

Karma definitely noticed the way that man spoke his Okuda-san's name in a familiar tone.

"Ah, please excuse my manners Hitoshi-san." Manami slightly bowed to him in an ever so polite behaviour. "Hitoshi-san, this is Karma-kun. And Karma Akabane-kun, this is Hitoshi-san, I mean, Yamaguchi senpai."

The man brightened upon hearing her words and polite encouraging smile graced his lips, "Oh, I see. So, this is your famous Karma-kun, huh?" he raised his hand towards Karma in a friendly gesture for a handshake. "Nice to finally meet you Akabane-kun. I'm Yamaguchi Hitoshi. And I'd like to tell you that Manami-chan here talks a lot about you."

"She does?" Karma returned the handshake with friendly firmness, his mind analysing the behaviour of the man in front of him with caution. He seemed pretty harmless at the first sight but Karma knew better than that. Nagisa was clearly a frightening example. As his gaze turned to the girl beside him she fidgeted slightly and Karma couldn't help but let a smirk curl upon his lips.

"Manamai-chan, Yamaguchi senpai." A familiar voice of Akira Suzuki brought their attention to the girl, "I'll be going home now. Bye-bye! And Akabane-kun you're free to visit here any day you wish."

Karma gave her a curt nod in response as the other two waved.

"Now since it's just the three of us how about we go to the little shop I was talking about earlier? For your toffee?

Manami looked quite excited at his offer and turned to Karma, as if asking for his acceptance.

When she looked at him like that than how can he deny her anything.

So, it was sometime later, he found himself sitting uncomfortably in front of the person he did not want to see. His order – the strawberry milkshake arrived immediately along with Yamaguchi's green tea. Manami's order – her honeycomb toffee was taking sometime so she still stood at the counter.

And Karma finds his golden eyes are trained over Manami's back. A straw is pressed between his lips as he sucks his strawberry milkshake trying to fake disinterest in the man sitting with him.

"You don't like me, do you?" The sudden question was more like a statement. Karma inwardly reels but doesn't let the man in front of him have the benefit of knowing that he had caught him off guard.

"Maybe?" the feral smirk he's famous for curls upon his lips, the one that is reserved for his enemies and rivals.

Hitoshi gives him a similarly smug smirk.

"Well, we're even then. I don't like you very much as well, Akabane-kun."

Karma tilts his head to let the man know that he has heard and considered his words. But Hitoshi continues.

"Well...I have heard a lot about your different endeavors Akabane-kun. And to be honest, sometimes I don't understand how someone like Manami-chan could ever get close to the likes of you."

Karma grins.

"I'll let you know something Yamaguchi-senpai. Okuda-san is much more than what meets the eye."

"Oh. But it still doesn't explain your proximity to her. You two, well like barely have anything in common. You are both polar opposites. My friendship with Manami-chan is logical since we both share a strong passion for Science.

"I'm curious, what do you share with her?"

 _Oh, a lot more than you can imagine._

His head whispers as he remembers all the sorrows and smile they've shared. All the failures and victories they have shared. He thinks.

 _We share the same core of our being. We're assassins._

Karma bites his tongue to keep it all in. But let's devilish grin grace his lips.

"First of all, friendship is not always based on logic and the other thing is - there's a part of her life that you're completely unaware of, which I suggest you to not to pry. And the truth is I am a part of that life."

He wants to say, _"And I am an important part of that life."_

 _Because that's what she is to me._

But the uncertainty of whether Manami considers him important enough stops him. The last year in class E gave a lot of things for them to cherish and consider important. But was he worthy enough to come into that category in her life?

He wasn't sure of the answer.

That's when Manami sweeps in to take her seat beside him with two plates in her hands. One with her favourite toffee and other with a piece of strawberry shortcake. She grins at him widely before the pushing the plate with the cake towards him.

He lets a look of surprise come over his features.

"They said they didn't have It." he says as if he's accusing the staff.

"Oh! While I was ordering my toffee, this came in freshly made. So I brought one for you."

He gives her a thank you and indulges himself in the pleasure for the sweet delicacy.

Later they part from the unnecessary addition to their time together. Well, at least from Karma's prospective.

Manami waves at the guy sweetly which he returns with a similar smile and for a brief second, Karma's eyes slash against his. A challenging smirk comes upon their lips as they stare each other down before he waves again and leaves them alone.

...

Karma and Manami walk down the road, closer than they did when someone other was with them. Light chat continued between them when Manami asked excitedly.

"So, Karma-kun, did you like Yamaguchi senpai?"

Karma gave her a side way glance.

"Well, he was okay...?"

He was okay because Karma was appreciative of his honesty.

But Manami giggled, "Its hard to impress Karma-kun, isn't it?"

Karma grins, "Of course!" as he remembers a certain braided girl standing in front of their superhuman teacher, holding flasks containing poisons far beyond the capability of any ordinary child of their image. Offering the poison to him in order to assassinate him with utmost honesty and gentleness.

He knows that his standards are high.

"Will you be going to the get together?" her voice reaches his ears.

"Maybe I will. I know that it is a little earlier than expected but I want to see everyone." He answers.

"Oh, I see."

"What about you?"

"Actually I am excited, but I have a meeting scheduled with Yamaguchi senpai on that day about something related to 'hitman'. So, I'll cancel it."

Karma gets a dull feeling of disappointment in his chest at her words. "Cancel coming to the reunion?"

Manami laughs, "No! I was talking about cancelling the meeting, silly! There's no way I will not come to the reunion! And, anyways, it's just like you said. I really want to see everyone again."

Their conversation is then suddenly interrupted by a loud growl, which startles both of them and Karma flushes red.

As he glances at her from the corner of his eyes, he gulps. She has her pretty amethyst eyes glaring at him.  
" Did you have your lunch today?"

"Ah, um. Well, you see...I sort of woke up late today."he mumbles as if the said words explain everything.

Manami's glare turns even fiercer.

He rubs the back of his neck in a nervous manner before his arm is grabbed and he is yanked to move with the tiny girl beside him.

"Okuda-san? Where are we going exactly?"

"To a nice Ramen shop nearby."

And Karma doesn't argue because it's futile. Because when Okuda Manami sets her mind on to something, she does complete it, no matter what.

Half hour later they exit the shop with a smiling and satisfied Karma. "It was good, well, at least better than Muramatsu's."

And Manami sweatdrops at his words.

…

Somewhere Muramatsu Takuya sneezes out of nowhere.

"Someone must have been talking about me," he mumbles to himself as he wipes his nose.

…

"You know. You should look after yourself better Karma-kun!" Manami complains.

They walk beside each other completely unconscious of how Manami takes longer strides to match him and how Karma walks slower so as to accommodate her beside him.

"Well, I have you and Nagisa to look after me." He grins but grows weak against her pout.

"It's not funny. Do you remember how he fretted over you when you didn't have breakfast or came without lunch? We would be upset if he knew that you're not properly taking care of yourself."

When she notices the faraway look in his eyes she immediately stops herself.

What the hell was she doing?!

This was such a sensitive subject. Bringing Koro-sensei in front of him just like that wasn't a right move. The reason he visited her and Nagisa-kun so often was because he wanted to distract himself from the painful memories. Because his home is always empty. There's no one there to fill the silence. So that Karma has the entire house to himself and the hurt he bears.

She had her parents to help her out of her doubts. She has them to comfort her when the nightmares occur. But what about him? Yes, they are busy people but at the end of the night, they are always home. They always have dinner together and they always never fail to ask about how her day had been.

But Karma...he always ate dinner alone, didn't he? And was a video chat enough to make up for the time he needed them? She knows that Karma is strong but even the mightiest person needs someone to depend upon.

The swirling feelings inside her head made her fist clench. She had done just the opposite of what he needed. She had reminded him again of their helplessness and sufferings.

But a sudden ruffle of her hair brings her out of her self-loathing. At the sight of Karma's sad smile, her heart breaks.

"Karma-kun, I-I'm r-really sorry!" she half sobs but he shakes his head, his eyes moving to look at the chipped moon.

"Hey it's not your fault. I can actually imagine that octopus going all red on me now." His smile turns more genuine. "And, well, I can't let that happen now, can I?

Manami nods and they move forward. But in the back of her head, she makes a promise to her deceased teacher.

 _I promise I'll look after him, Koro-sensei. You can count me!_

* * *

 **So, you might have realised that I encountered a problem while writing the chapter and it was that Karma was becoming super possessive and clingy in the previous versions. But I really hope that this is a little better in characterisation. I really need your thoughts on this guys. And I hope you liked the chapter.**

 **And I wrote a Karmanami two shot fic called 'Somewhere Close' some time ago so if you haven't read it yet then go ahead and give it a try!**

 **Please share your thoughts with me!**

 **See you again.**


	6. Chapter 6 Promises from back Then

_**I know, I know! It's been long but I'm back with some new stuff! So, finally the plot is moving forward and I really hope you like what I have in store for you! Though let me warn you already that this chapter has a few grammatical errors.**_

 _ **Thanks a lot for all of your favs, follows and lovely comments! They really encourage me!**_

* * *

 **Chapter – 6**

 **Promises from back Then**

Isogai was very pleased with himself.

It was a grand luck for him that he was able to find a whole set of snacks on heavy discount. He picked up two more and dropped them into the cart, one for his family and two for the reunion, and then decided to move forward in search of more items to buy.

He was pretty sure that other members of the 3 E would bring eatables and stuff with them but as their class president it was his job to provide all he can alongside, to make this reunion the best he could. He could even arrange a few cleaning supplies to dust off the things around.

He was a bit shocked when all of them agreed to his selfish request to arrange the reunion a bit ahead of time but he was surely not complaining. It seems as if he might not be the only one suffering from loneliness and that nagging sensation in the back of his head.

He picked up another carton of teas and milkshakes hoping that it would suffice for the occasion.

"Yuuma-kun?"

A familiar voice startled him as he whipped his head towards the origin of the sound.

"Megu-san? What a surprise!"

It was after moving into their high school Kataoka had insisted that they should at least call each other with their first names.

"Because I'll never feel as close to anyone here as I feel to you."

She had said, looking over the sunset, maybe imagining the faraway mountain. And Yuuma had found himself spell bound, humming in approval.

"So, you're here prepping for the reunion as well?"

She asked and that's when Isogai notices her cart filled with similar items as his, up to the brim.

Isogai laughed, "Looks like we both are a little too excited."

But something heavy lies beneath those words. A sensation that makes his throat constrict.

He is a somewhat stunned when her eyes soften. "Trust me, we aren't the only ones needing them. They need us too."

Isogai swallows because now he knows that she understands.

...

Karma curses himself as his fingers type away at the screen with ferocious speed.

How can he make such a stupid mistake?

Assassins should always be prepared, ahead of the time, with several plans and outcomes in their heads, ready to strike and counter as they please.

That's how Korosensei had raised them.

Not to sit around and wait for their opponent to punch them on the face, winning the first blow.

But still, he has that particular ace up his sleeve and he hopes that it works.

He attached the phone to his ear and waited for some response on the other side thinking about the recent events.

…

 _Just a few minutes ago he had called Manami. Completely randomly. It wasn't an uncommon thing for them. They had done this a lot, even when they were back in middle school. It was no surprise to him that after entering the High School their so called random calls increased, both in number and in duration._

 _The subject of those calls would be anything between how I defeated Asano with two marks and how I beat up a bunch of bullies with your new invention._

 _So yeah, it was a totally normal conversation until she brought it up._

 _"Karma-kun? Do you know someone by the name of Mitsuba Kanari-san?"_

 _Surely enough it was an innocent question, but yet for him it was dangerous enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand._

 _No fucking way. She couldn't have met her that soon!_

 _"Why do you ask, Okuda-san?" He attempts to be as nonchalant as possible._

 _"She's my senior, recently transferred from Kunugigaoka high school. I-I think she knows you."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"Yes she does. Karma-kun, what did you do?"_

 _Karma bites his tongue from giving a snark reply because she wouldn't appreciate it.._

 _"She did something wrong and I simply let her know where she stood. But the more important question is what did she do to you?"_

 _The silence from the other side made him increasingly apprehensive._

 _"Okuda-san, what did she do?" He asked again, his voice strong enough to leave her no room for backing down._

 _"Um, actually, I was the one mistakenly approached her because of some errand. When I was escorting her to the teacher who had requested her presence she mentioned about being a transfer student from Kunugigaoka. So, I asked if she knew you. And t-that's when she grew mad. I mean I-I didn't even realise it at first but she looked at me as if..."_

 _Karma pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration._

 _"Okuda-san. I think you're hiding something from me."_

 _"Aah, um, K-Karma-kun, I, she might've, I mean she accidentally shoved me on the stairs?"_

 _It took a moment for Karma to let the severity of the situation sink into him and then his blood ran cold, his breath turned shallow and he unconsciously grit his teeth in anger._

 _"But I swear that it was completely accidental!" She makes a futile attempt to salvage the situation._

 _"Okuda-san... you're not hurt, are you?"_

 _"I'm not! I promise! Though, it thanks to Yamaguchi senpai! He arrived out of nowhere, you know? He, well, he just sort of saved me? I don't even know what she wanted, er-r, Karma-kun, don't be mad or worried! Please!"_

 _Karma didn't even know when he landed on the cushiony bottom of his study chair, the palm of his hand pressing up against his forehead, messing up his bangs in the process.  
He took a moment to compose himself and let out a shuddering breath._

 _"I'm glad that you're not hurt, Okuda-san. Really glad. But if you don't want me to get mad or worried then you have gotta promise me something. Will you do it?"_

 _"Promise?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Well, that didn't take that much time for you to think and agree about it!" He felt a slight tug at the corner of his lips as he ran his fingers through his hair._

 _"Y-yeah. It's okay for me, you know, as long as it's you the one that I'm promising to."_

 _Karma felt his heart lurch to his throat at her words. He couldn't see her face on the phone but he can still visualise her big eyes shining with conviction and eyebrows a little scrunched up as if daring him to defy her._

 _He did not understand how he had allowed someone to breach into his inner conscience so much that her small words and actions would overwhelm him beyond belief. He has always been a closed person and letting someone catch him off-guard almost every time was not much to his comfort. Weirdly enough, as long as it was her, it didn't trouble him to that extent. At times, he wondered if she even knew the implications of those words she so carelessly uttered to him. Did she understand their significance?_

 _As long as I'm the one you're promising to?_

 _Does she realise how enormous meaning those words hold? And a part of him says yes, she does. Manami might be awkward when it came to interacting with people but she was smart. Naïve but intelligent._

" _Karma_ _-kun?" her soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She must have realised that he had zoned out for a second._

" _You need to promise me that you'll stay as far as possible from that 'bitch'." He tells her sternly._

" _K-Karma-kun!"_

 _He knows that her exclamation is directed towards his use of profanities. Well, it was not uncommon for him to spew out insults. You have no choice but to do that when you need to goad your opponent and for him, it was a daily thing. But, for some reason he had always made an attempt to filter his mouth when Manami was anywhere near him until absolutely needed. He didn't understand why he did that. Maybe an effort to protect her innocence that he has already become so fond of?_

" _So, promise or not?"_

 _There was a small beat of silence after which she responded._

" _I don't have any choice, do I? I already promised you."_

 _He found a smirk curling upon his lips._

" _Yeah, if you do it would be bad. And you are not the one to try 'bad' things Okuda-san."_

 _She huffed at him indignantly and he let a laugh bubble up his throat. Though the growing apprehension makes his heart twist uneasily._

 _His voice turned sombre as he warned her again. "Okuda-san, please be careful. She is not a person I want you to deal with. She is dangerous and always on her heels to put people down. Now that she knows that we're connected she will be desperate to hurt you." He takes a breath to compose himself "-And I don't want you to get hurt by someone like her. Be safe."_

" _I know. I will." She murmured, realising the gravity of the situation and the slight fear he has been trying to hide behind that strong voice._

…

Manami re-reads the line for the seventeenth time.

Why is not anything making sense?

Her fingers trace the outline of the edge of the page as she makes another futile attempt to concentrate on the neatly printed words. In the end she realises that it's useless and exhales, pushing the book away from her. She stands on her toes and stretches, wanting her shoulders to lose the fatigue and walks to her balcony door. Her lilac eyes taking the glow of the chipped moon.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have let him know?_

Thoughts of second guessing herself flitted across her mind as she fell into a pit of doubts, deeper and deeper. She had known that it was bad idea from the beginning and Karma's reactions made all of her fears come true.

She knew that he will get angry. Who wouldn't? In fact, she did too. The girl had honestly infuriated her.

Manami knew that she wasn't the type to get mad at people easily. Korosensei had once told her that her inability to get angry over stuff made her an excellent thinker in tedious situations and countered Karma's personality well since he was one of the few people in 3 E who were easy to annoy and also deadly dangerous.

She very well remembers the times when she had to hold him back.

Not that those people didn't deserve it, because they certainly did…but it was rather inappropriate timing for a violent response from their side.

But…she still wasn't sure that getting Karma involved in this issue was right. He had a lot of things to worry about now. His future. His dreams. And certainly, staying in Kunugigaoka kept him on his toes.

 _Not her._

She shouldn't be one of those worries in his life. She wanted to lessen his burden, not add more weight on to it. But now, she thinks that she has spectacularly failed in it. Now, he'll worry about her and lose his already bare sleep. As much as he attempted to put that nonchalant attitude for show, he had always cared more than he let on.

Or maybe she did it because not telling him might have proved fatal to their friendship.

Trust. And truth.

That was the core of their bond.

And related to a sort of unspoken promise they had shared.

…

 _It was after they had returned from Okinawa. A normal class and normal day. Well, as normal as it could be for the assassination classroom._

 _As the sunlight filtered through the window, Manami watched her classmates leave. The sudden noise of the lab door sliding open startled her as Karma entered, waving a hand in lazy manner and dropping his bag in a corner. He stood beside her and smiled gleefully._

" _So, what are we cooking up today?"_

" _No Karma-kun. Okuda-san would be working here today. I'd rather appreciate if you don't touch anything because last time you did, I had to use my precious monthly shedding to save you both from the blast." There was a swish and Korosensei's voice reached their ears and Karma, in response, rolled his eyes._

 _Karma observed them going through the instructions twice and safety measures thrice (it is Korosensei after all) before he declared that he has some exclusive show to watch in Rome so he'll have to leave the two of them to their own devices no matter how much it saddens him to do that. Manami reassured him with a smile and he flooded the area with tears muttering up a storm about how amazing his students are._

 _Although before he parted, his tentacles reached up to pat their heads and mess up hair._

" _Karma-kun, take care of Okuda-san. And Okuda-san, keep Karma-kun out of trouble."_

 _Karma tried to slash off his tentacle on his head with a green knife and Manami nodded dutifully. And just like that, their teacher blasted off into the atmosphere._

" _Damn that Octopus!" Karma muttered lightly under his breath._

 _Manami chuckled and pulled the lab coat over herself. Karma's eyes traced her each and every movement with something glinting in between. He watched her whirling around the lab. She danced fluidly, her feet are light on the wood of the floor. He sat there for one hour and a half observing her, but never saying a word._

 _It is she who takes the initiative to break the silence._

" _Karma-kun. Why are you here?"_

" _Hmm…because I want to be?"_

" _But you know right? I'm not creating some mischief causing stuff for you right now."_

" _Yeah, I know. I'm not here for that. I just thought we could have a little peace here after the hellish training Karasuma-sensei put us through."_

 _She bit her tongue to not let out the fact that his home would be much more peaceful compared to here. There is a span of quietness stretching for about eight minutes before she spoke up again._

" _I've been wanting to ask you something." She said, nervously, hoping that she doesn't overstep her boundaries. She knew that he was not 'that' scary but it still didn't contradict the fact that he was dangerous if provoked._

' _Yeah?" he indicated her to go ahead and fished out two tetra packs of strawberry milk from his bag, one being opened by him and the other set aside._

 _For her._

 _She didn't remember when it became an everyday ritual._

" _Why did you tell me?"_

 _He raised a questioning brow, his lips sucking on the straw._

" _Why did you tell me that you are scared of Nagisa-kun? I mean, you don't seem the type of person to willingly disclose it to someone. Um, I-I don't mean to be r-rude! Just curious." Her face burns scarlet realising how intruding the question would have actually seemed to someone like Karma who is a fairly private person._

" _You are right. I don't go around telling people stuff like that. Do you want me to be honest?" He asked, his gaze fixed upon the swaying leaves of the tree on the yard._

" _Yes."_

 _He turned to look at her, his eyes indecipherable. "It's because you're easy to read, Okuda-san. And you're weak."_

 _Manami reeled back at his bluntness and something in her heart stung badly. She should have known. She was not someone worthy in his view, not an element he needs to be vary of._

" _-at least, that was how I saw you, in the beginning. But that changed the day when you made your first attempt to assassinate that octopus. I was impressed. I never thought that a shy, easily decipherable and meek person like you could hide that enormous talent from everyone's eye. It made me think 'You are weak, Okuda-san, but you're just as dangerous.'_

" _Maybe it was your knowledge in science that exceeded mine with so much gap that no matter how hard I try I'll never be able to reach you and it made me crazy. I never accepted defeat before I learned that I can't be you in here. In this place."_

 _He said softly, pointing out to the lab._

" _It's where you reign. It's your territory that I can never hope to conquer."_

 _His eyes were boring into her, as if reading her doubts and questions. This was the first time they were talking about their friendship…er, whatever it was, so openly. And a part of her was grateful for this chance._

" _You were interesting and your knowledge was mind boggling to me. I wanted to know you more."_

" _But that doesn't explain why you told me about your fears." Manami is a student of science and she only believed in facts._

" _That is something…I don't know myself." His hesitation made her understand that she wasn't the only one confused about the bond that they shared._

 _Then her eyes fall on the strawberry milk still beside him._

 _He had opened up to her but she should do the same, right? It was only a fair exchange then._

" _I-I was scared of you too. At f-first, I mean. The way you attacked Korosensei and the reputation you had before. It made me hold my breath when you talked to me first. I wasn't even sure that you even could be looking at me. But when you said about how 'cool' I was for making poisons…it made me very happy! Because no one ever said that to me ever before. It's silly but I was glad when you asked me if I could help you assassinate Korosensei using some 'new chemistry stuff'. It made me real h-happy!"_

 _Karma had listened to her all the while with eyes wide. It made her nervous but she had to let him know. So, she continued._

" _And before I knew it…you weren't scary anymore."_

 _The silence that ensued now was not awkward like the ones before. She let him search her eyes for whatever he was looking for. She was completely honest with everything she had said. And meant every word of it._

" _So we are friends…right?" she asked, finally acknowledging the elephant in the room._

 _And he laughed._

" _After everything we have confessed, Okuda-san, you still doubt the validity of our friendship? I'm pretty sure that I don't go around letting people know about how amazing I think they are. It hurts my too damn big of an ego."_

 _She laughed at his words and before she could comprehend her actions she was seated beside him, sipping on the small pack._

 _An everyday event._

 _Nothing out of ordinary._

 _But for her…it still was._

 _The wind swayed his red bangs when he turned to look at her. A genuine smile graced his lips. So enchanting that it made her breath hitch._

" _Okuda-san, let's tell each other everything from now on."_

…

The phone is picked up on the other side exactly when the seventh ring ends.

"Hello? This is Yamaguchi Hitoshi speaking."

It is then when suddenly Karma freezes. He swallows, not sure if should actually proceed.

Suddenly, a familiar voice echoes inside his head.

" _Your pride should never be above your goals or your loved ones."_

All the doubt vanishes off instantly. He takes a deep breath.

"Yamaguchi-san. This is Akabane Karma speaking."

There is a small silence on the other side interrupted with a sputter and fumble and Karma barely hides a snicker.

"Akabane-kun?! What?! How did you get my number?"

Karma couldn't help but smirk smugly, "I have my connections, senpai."

"O-oh? What did you need, kid?"

Karma contemplated for a moment, twirling a pencil in between his fingers.

"What I need is not something we can simply talk over the phone. I would like to see you, personally."

As the seconds of hesitance pass, Karma tenses. He knows that he has no choice but to pull out his trump card for this particular problem.

"It's about Okuda-san." He finally says.

"Where do you propose we meet?" the response in immediate.

And Karma tries his best to ignore how instantaneous was the guy's reply when Manami was dragged in between.

…

He doesn't know what he's doing here at the moment.

Or…maybe he does.

He was passing through the area when he remembered that Kayano told him that she'd be doing her shooting here for a few weeks. So, on a whim, he had decided to visit her.

He tries to catch a sight of her among the crowd and the swarming movie staff, having a little resentment for his short height. He squeezes through people and that's when he spots her. In the middle. The center of everyone's attention.

Her lips move and her eyes glow and Nagisa could not help but be awed of this girl's talent. He cannot fathom how she makes every character she touches and acts and makes it come alive. When she is on the stage, Nagisa wonders if she is the same Kayano he knows.

"Cut!" the booming voice of the director snaps him out of his thoughts and he smiles when she is crowded over by her well-wishers.

In the midst of all of it, he never considers the possibility of her having noticed his presence.

"Nagisa!" he is startled when he sees her worming her way through the crowd to reach him with a bright smile on her face which makes Nagisa's heart clench.

Before he knows it, she is in front of him, the grin on her face is larger than before.

"What a surprise!" she exclaims and he laughs. She tells him that she is on a ten minute break and he is glad to hear it.

"I am happy to see that you're doing well!" he tells her with utmost sincerity.

"Thank you." She whispers gratefully.

"I know you're busy but I'll still ask. Will you attend the reunion?"

Her grin morphs into a genuine smile, "Of course! There is no way in the world I wouldn't."

Nagisa feels a warmth blossom into his chest at her words, too happy to explain.

"Haruna-san! The next shot is ready!" a staff tells her and she nods at him with an 'I'm coming.'

But Nagisa is definitely concerned. "How longer is it going to take?"

She shouldn't overwork herself, right?

She smiles, "It's the last shot of the night. Twenty minutes approx. Then I can pack up and go home."

"Oh okay. Then I'll walk you home."

She looks startled and he is too.

 _Where did that came from?_

"I wouldn't like to trouble you." Her voice is soft and eyes trying to hide something from him.

"I insist." He might have been unprepared for this but he would never mind spending a little time in the company of someone he cherishes. And she no doubt is one of those.

The smiles she gives him in return, is what he thinks, is worth it.

* * *

 _ **The little dash of Nagikae was in this chapter came out of nowhere in my head. Nothing much but I really love writing them, so yeah. and yes, Karma and Yamaguchi interaction is real. Hahaha!**_

 _ **And by now you would have realized, the essence of the chapter was the memory that Manami has of their promise. Might have been a little OOC but I really felt the need to describe the journey of their friendship. This is how this story will go on, back and forth between the past and the present. Because I am a little obsessed towards adding my head canons for their backstory here.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoyed reading it, let me know your thoughts please!**_


	7. Chapter 7 When people are alone

_**A year. I didn't think I was coming back to this story but here I am! A lot has happened but I won't bore you guys! But before we start, I really want to thank everyone for staying patient with me and this story and reminding me that it was worth writing!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **When people are alone**

She fisted the grass beneath her fingers, her gaze fixed on the boy in front of her. Her other hand lies over her skirt with the grace she was known to have as she sat a little farther away from the practice grounds, on the slope, in the care of safety nets to protect any bystander from stray balls. His teammates chattered among themselves, occasionally giving her a look or two before slinging their bags over their shoulders, wishing him goodbye and running off. He waved at them too, casually, but his eyes never leave the practice dummy. She has to admit that she is impressed how almost all of his balls hit the intended target and but she cannot help but think, maybe that accuracy and precision comes from the times they practiced throwing rubber knives at someone unimaginably faster than his opponents were ever going to be.

A corner of her mind reminded her that the energy drink she had brought for him would get warm soon. But something rooted her to the place. Maybe it was his controlled form, the swing of his arm in a practiced arc or the light in his eyes that kept her unmoving. He might have been practicing the same routine for hours now, but she didn't know. She hasn't yet seen the glanced on her wrist.

Or maybe they were her own insecurities threatening to swallow her whole. Watching him act with so much direction in his life stirred something in her heart. He had a purpose, a goal that he wanted to achieve.

 _To become the best pitcher out there! Whom the world would remember._

That was his dream. But...what did she have?

A desire to break through the perfect doll persona her parents had forced upon her. A desire to not end up as a trophy wife to some rich businessman with no accomplishment for herself. But these were vague dreams, Something so far away in the future that she didn't know how to reach towards them.

What would Korosensei think if he sees her now? Would he be disappointed? Angry? Sad?

She didn't know the answers. Maybe did not even want to.

Suddenly his gaze flicked up to her, dark eyes widening a little when he realised that he has been the object of her observations. He blushed, averted his gaze and then stalked to his sports bag. It took him only a few seconds to gather up his things and then rush to her.

"You didn't need to cut short your training for me." Kanzaki said, looking up at him.

"No! I was done anyway, Kanzaki-san." He blurted out, bending down a little and offering his hand for her to take.

She smiled, gathered her things, stuffed them into her bag and took his hand to pull herself up. She noted how he is careful with his strength. She stood, dusted the grass off her skirt and rummaged through her bag.

"Here." She offered him the energy drink she bought and he looked delighted.

"Thank you!" He exclaimed, "I was honestly beat!" He took the can from her, opened the lid, a happy smile on his face and Kanzaki was unable to hold back her's in return. Together they walked down the sunset, talking about everything and anything, close enough to touch but tentative enough not to. And the way he looks at her with wide innocent eyes, thinking the world of her makes her wonder if she can actually drag herself out of these mess of feelings she's drowning in. Being with him gives her hope and honestly, she cherishes every moment of it.

…

Manami glared at the test result lying in front of her. How could she have written Nucleophilic substitution reaction wrong?But, here was the paper lying in front of her - a plain evidence of her failure. She stared at the paper some more before folding it and stuffing it in her bag a little violently.

"My, my...Manami-chan? What's with all that rage?" Izumi. Who had noticed her out of character behaviour didn't hesitate to make a remark.

Manami pouted a little. "I got the seventh question wrong."

"Huh?" Her eyes furrowed in confusion before she peeked on her own test paper and then laughed. "Girl, this wasn't even supposed to be included in the test syllabus! Aizawa-sensei did say it later. And you even attempted and got it halfway right? That's incredible! You just need to learn to give yourself a little credit Manami!"

Even though she was tempted to argue that she had just studied the topic...like two days ago, it somehow never went inside her head and hence never came out on the paper. Maybe something was wrong with her brain? What was the possibility of her suffering from some kind of brain disorder?

"Manami-chan, stop fretting over it!" Akira's voice was so close that it made her jump. Her friend laughed, standing over her desk, and even Izumi was smirking, "You were looking somewhat lost in there." She commented.

"Um, yeah...I mean, I've been a little distracted lately." She admitted and suddenly it made sense.

She had been a little uneasy about about Karma's past involvement with her senior Kanari. Karma liked messing up with people but she cannot imagine him bullying an innocent person. Although...Kanari looked anything but _that_. And two days ago when she had asked him about this, and he had been fiercely protective over her. Whatever happened between them was not _pretty_ at all. And her guilt over making Karma worry about her was consuming her sanity at a rapid rate.

 _Maybe I should talk to Kayano-chan about it._

The thought approached when she entered the seemingly empty toilets. She entered the washroom without checking and gosh, _big mistake_. Of all the toilets in the large school, Mitsuba Kanari was in there. Standing in front of the large mirror, she was reapplying her makeup. Her eyes immediately flew up at the sound of the door and Manami inwardly gulped at the moment their eyes met. She abruptly averted her gaze and bolted inside the nearest open stall.

 _Okuda-san, please be careful. She is not a person I want you to deal with._

Karma's words rang through her mind again and again and she bit her lip angrily, a little frustrated with herself for pushing herself inside, in this situation. She stayed in the stall listening carefully, trying to know if the girl had left already. It was only two minutes left for the next class, she knew - she had been seeing her watch, when she decided to open the door.

And of course, Kanari was standing directly across from her stall, a snide smirk on her face. "Thought you were going to stay holed up in there forever."

"A-ah, good afternoon senpai." Manami stuttered, fisting her skirt desperately, trying not to instigate any type of confrontation. But her timidness seemed to encourage Kanari even more because the smirk grew in length. She stepped closer to Manami, arms crossed over her chest. All smug. "Hm...a little birdie told me that Akabane visits you here often?"

Manami did not lie. "S-Sometimes."

"Do you think you are special to him?" She questioned, preening down at her. "-Or did it ever occur to you that probably he is just using you? That little bastard."

Kanari's insinuation that Karma was disloyal made something rage in her heart. Heck, betrayal was the one thing Karma hated more than anything and to think that this girl believed that he was capable of this despicable act made her blood boil.

And 'special to him?' Oh yes she was! She is sure that she is not delusional when she thinks of herself being important to him. Everyone in class E was important to him. And nobody can change that fact! Let alone a person like her!

The courage that seemingly came out of nowhere at the wrongful accusations made on Karma's character made her reckless enough to blurt out angrily, "You don't know him! So don't talk about Karma-kun like that!"

Her sudden outburst surprised Kanari, made her flinch. And Manami simply realised that fighting for Karma is easier than fighting for before she could utter a single syllable, the gate to the toilets was slammed open. Both of them whirled around to see Akira entering the washroom with look saying 'there you are! I've been searching for you too long' which slowly morphed into confusion at the scene in front of her. Kanari gave her a cool look before shuffling out of the room.

"Manami-chan?" she questioned, watching the retreating form of Kanari, "-who was that? An acquaintance?"

"Sort of…" Manami whispered unsurely, "but we don't get along."

"Oooh. So apparently Okuda Manami is capable of disliking people!" Akira grinned.

"Stop it, Akira-chan!" Manami laughed, pushing her friend out of the room, "We are already late for class."

…

Unable to stop frowning, Manami walked towards the lab of the third years. The school was over and a lot of people were moving around. Some heading for home and some trudging towards their labs to work on their own projects. Her work with Yamaguchi senpai was kept safe in the confines of the amazing third year lab. And she was granted with the special permission to visit and use that lab by the principal himself. Normally, she would be delighted to work any time she could but after her extensive research, she realised that they had been foolish with their assumptions. Hitman was probably not a cancer suppressing substance, but rather an antibiotic.

She knew that discovering a new antibiotic was no ordinary feat but felt a slight prick of disappointment lodging itself in some corner of her heart. They did not conquer the disease that was proving itself to be one of the biggest threats to mankind. Wanting to share this news with her fellow colleague she stalked towards the lab with urgency when he appeared on the turn of steps with his friends, his bag slinging over his shoulder.

"Senpai?" she questioned, curiously looking at the bag.

"Uh, hi Manami-chan." He replied, looking at her with a sheepish smile, "I don't think I'll be able to work at the lab today. I've got an arrangement. Sorry!"

"O-oh! It's okay Senpai, I understand. Please enjoy yourself." She waved off his apology with a smile.

At her words he gave her a wry, knowing smile. "I doubt I will."

"Eh?" she exclaimed, "are you visiting your doctor? Or is it something else?"

"Oh, no, no. It's not a bad thing. Don't fret about it. I'll see you tomorrow and of course feel free to use the lab even when I'm not there, okay?"

He rubbed her head as if she was kicked puppy and Manami cringed a little after he left. Something about that hand was missing. A certain warmth. A certain gentleness and something firm.

…

Karma sipped his strawberry shake through the straw, cheek resting on his palm as he watched the people around with a detached interest. Even though at the moment he was appearing to be in a state that is the epitome of boredom, but he really wasn't. Watching people interact in a cacophony of complaints, demands, questions and facts was fascinating. Everyone was the protagonist of their own lives, twisting and turning through a complex maze of systems called life.

He felt a smirk quirk upon his lips when the couple sitting behind him began bickering.

"I saw you with that girl on a date yesterday!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent! You know who I'm talking about!"

"Osaka-san?"

"Yes! That girl."

A sigh. "Osaka-san is my team mate for the school project. We were not on a date. We were buying materials needed for the model."

Silence. "Y-You are lying!"

"Think what you want. I'm tired. And I'm leaving."

Karma watched the boy leave from the corner of his eye. He took a few steps, almost standing in level with Karma's table and then turned to look behind.

"You know what? You're annoying."

That was all he said before twisting on his heel and leaving the flabbergasted girl there. She looked horrified and confused at the same time. As the implications of the entire scene slowly sinked in her brain, she grew tearful, viciously grabbed her purse and left the cafe. And Karma had the hardest time of his life trying to hold back laughter.

 _Drama!_

"Whoa there! Careful!"

Someone walked in as the girl stomped away, almost slamming open the glass door on his face. Karma almost fell off the chair laughing because that someone was none other than Yamaguchi Hitoshi.

….

Walking alone down the road was boring. Most days she didn't have to though. Because sometimes she was accompanied by Akira and Izumi, and sometimes it was Yamaguchi senpai. But more often than not, it was Karma. So in the rare twist of fate, she had to travel to the station alone today.

The crowd was overwhelming for someone small like her. When she is suddenly pushed to a side recklessly by someone, gasped and stumbled, shuffling to a side to take a breath. Things can get especially uncomfortable when people are alone, she thought. Then her eyes fall on the small vending machine on her other side and the first thing she noticed, were the small and several packs of strawberry milk on the topmost shelf. And an abrupt realisation of how thirsty she was dawned upon her. A few seconds later, she was sipping away the milk merrily.

...

 _She was sitting on the grass slope, knees pulled back as she gazed longingly at the water bottle in her hand. Kurahashi-san had looked so exhausted after today's gruelling training that she had willingly, in an act of benevolence, offered the last few gulps of water to the parched girl. Even though she was extremely thirsty, she decided that she couldn't let her friend suffer. Sadly, almost all of the girls were out of water and she didn't want to trouble them. And their building never had a water cooler installed. If she wanted water, then she should ask Korosensei to help or either go to the main building all by herself._

 _Before she could fret over further, a sudden cool and wet sensation met her cheeks and she almost jumped._

 _There he was, Karma Akabane, sipping on a tetra pack of strawberry milk, pressing another similar pack to her face. He had a hand slipped in the pocket of his lowers, and golden eyes staring at her, urging her to take the offered treat. She blinked twice before taking the small pack with reverence and smiled when he settled beside her with a look of utter nonchalance._

 _She unwrapped the cover eagerly and poked a hole on the top with her straw before remembering something called manners._

 _"U-uh! Karma-kun! Thank you very much."_

 _He waved her off with a side smile._

 _"You looked thirsty."_

 _Manami nodded, blushing a little because of how easily he could read her. Taking a small sip in, she let out a moan of relief at the sugary, cold liquid wetting her throat. She whipped her head around to thank him again only to find him gazing at her intently. Confused and a little unnerved by his stare, she asked, "Is something wrong?"_

 _He shook his head and turned towards the sight of Terasaka sailing over their heads into the woods after Korosensei had flipped him, a little...strongly. He spoke then, eyes still straight ahead._

 _"Okuda-san did well today."_

 _Astonished, she looked at him with wide eyes. "Really? Y-You think?"_

 _"Yeah, like Karasuma-sensei said, using the smoke bomb to distract and stun your opponent is a very smart strategy. I'm impressed!"_

 _The grin he offered her could be best described as feral but she found nothing but genuine excitement in it. And suddenly she couldn't hold back a happy smile._

 _Every time he appreciated her, either for her rank in science tests, or improvements in other subjects or for some new innovative inventions and creations, it made her gratified in ways she couldn't express. It felt as if she was someone important, who was worth praising, who was worth accepting._

 _With him by her side, she felt she could achieve something worth remembering._

 _"Oh! Why milk though?"_

 _"Cause you need to grow taller."_

 _"Karma-kun!"_

…

After his almost bump with the furious girl stomping away, Yamaguchi examined the small cafe, his gaze sweeping over the customers before coming to rest on a head of red hair. Karma watched him twist through the tables and approach him. He offered a curt nod to his invitee which was returned likewise. Yamaguchi seated himself before turning to Karma.

"Hope I did not make you wait for too long."

Karma leaned back into his chair coolly, "Nope. Just arrived here fifteen minutes ago."

Yamaguchi gave him an apologetic smile. Just then a waiter arrived to receive their order.

"Cappuccino and a slice of coffee cake."

He gave the waiter a smile and then turned to Karma. "How have your studies been going?"

"Alright, I guess." Karma answered nonchalantly, observing him with sharp golden eyes. He was dressed in school uniform of Oku-Tokyo, his tie was hanging a little low and his blazer was probably stuffed in his bag. His brown hair looked slightly disheveled. They made a general small talk, mostly the older boy asking questions and Karma answering them all, but with disinterest. In a few minutes, his order arrived. He thanked the waiter with a smile and a nod and took the spoon, gently mixing up his hot beverage. "So. What do we have here?"

Karma sipped his own drink. "Like I said, it is about Okuda-san."

"And Kanari Mitsuba."

Yamaguchi continued, a smirk settled on his face at Karma's intriguing look.

"You're quite intuitive." Karma had to comment.

"Thanks, I guess." Yamaguchi sighed, "But her hatred for Manami-chan wasn't exactly hard to miss."

Karma nodded. And they proceeded to take a moment to enjoy their beverages and cakes. The silence between them was not exactly comfortable but it was not threatening either. But a part of Karma longed for a familiar warm company. Okuda talked less, but her bright eyes and gentle presence always made him lower his guard. If it was for her, he could not hesitate, so he spoke,"I have a request to make."

"Oh?" Yamaguchi looked intrigued and set his cup down, "And what may that be?"

Karma appreciated his straightforwardness and decided to be the same.

"I'll be direct. I want you to keep an eye for me on Kanari. And, to make sure that Okuda-san stays safe."

"Hmm... that is not a hard request." He nodded thoughtfully, "I can do that. But…" He leaned in,"What benefit will I get from it?"

Karma raised his brows, he was weirded out that he kind of that be both expected and not expected it.

"It was a request. Not a deal." He stated and slowly eased back a little "But, what can I offer you?"

Yamaguchi smiled, as if he has been waiting for this question alone.

"Nothing much. Just stop with your visits on Thursdays."

Karma felt his eyes go wide.

"What?"

Yamaguchi tilted his head to a side.

"I've heard, you're among the topmost of your class. You do good with your grades and other extracurricular activities." He paused, taking a sip of his coffee. "But people like Manami-chan are not like you. She is amazing at her work but she cannot focus on multiple things at a time."

"What exactly are you trying to come at?" Karma asked, hint of ire seeping in his voice. He didn't like where this was going. Not at all.

"Every Thursday, she is the first to exit out her class. Unlike every other day when she is eager to work in labs, Thursdays are the days when she shows genuine displeasure at being held back for any reason. No matter how important or exciting the work that she is doing. Why? Because she doesn't want 'Karma-kun' to wait. I'm not saying that she should slave over her work. But she has so much potential that I'm left in awe." He looked at Karma straight in the eyes, with strong conviction. "She can achieve so much, if she is allowed to focus."

"So you're saying that I am hindering her?"

The implications were clear and Karma was not stupid or dense enough to not understand them.

Yamaguchi gave a satisfied sigh and a wry smile.

"You're as smart as rumours say Akabane. I'm glad that I didn't have to spell it out for you."

Karma was stunned, a state of mind which he barely ever had experienced. Thousands of thoughts were flying across his head but he could not make sense of even a single one.

"You know? Today, I had to leave her in the lab alone cause you invited me here. And it's not only about her ambitions and dreams. It's about her safety too. Had she not been your friend, she would have been safe from Kanari."

His words churned something dark inside Karma's stomach. Why did his talk feel so wrong and yet, he couldn't find a single excuse to refute him? Was he compromising hers and his dream by visiting her? Deliberately limiting his and her potential? And was he...actually putting her in _danger_?

Yamaguchi's words opened a tunnel of doubt and twisted feelings that Karma could not seem to pull himself out of. The older teenager stood up from his seat, placed a few yen on the table, enough for both his and Karma's order before offering him a smile.

"I trust you to know the best for yourself and Manami-chan, kid. I know you'll make a wise decision."

That was he said before collecting his things and leaving.

And Karma sat there all by himself, contemplating and wondering, going down an endless spiral of thoughts about all that occurred today.

 _Am I really that? An obstacle in your path, Okuda-san?_

* * *

 _ **Probably not my best chapter, but, hopefully you all enjoyed it? Things are getting serious now! What do you all think, will Karma try to pull himself away from Manami? Ohh, and Yamaguchi's true colours are showing?**_  
 _ **AHAHAHAHA**_  
 _ **Not sure when the next chapter will come out, but I'll try my best to start on it as soon as I can.**_  
 _ **Thank you for reading! Have a good day!**_


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